FIRST WEEK IN THE BOOKS

And what a week it was!

It's Sunday evening and our Internet is being less than cooperative with my laptop, so I'm trying to blog on my phone. I have little patience for thumb typing, so I'll keep the commentary short!

In all the activity of preparing to teach, I didn't forget that this was a new school year for the kids as well. Caleb is now a sophomore, Hannah a freshman, Samuel an 8th grader and Sarah is in 4th!

These folks have been crazy busy since arriving in Haiti last month and we are so very happy to have Jeff supervising math, Chris teaching science classes and Camden as a new 7th grader.

Our classes are upstairs from where I usually teach adult English classes. (This Tuesday will begin our new year for THAT!)

Ruysdael is helping us out at the temporary site. It's good to have him close.

Our other new teacher is John Adams. He is off to a great start with the social study classes.

Ruysdael is continuing his role this year as Creole teacher for the missionary kids. I didn't realize until the first day of school that I actually have free time while he teaches Caleb and Hannah,  so I'm joining the class!

Lunch time. No cafeteria!

The start of school always makes AFTER school times that much sweeter. Here Caleb and Brianna practice some guitar.

These two ladies are like family now, but their time in Haiti is drawing to a close this coming Tuesday. So we're trying to jam in as many experiences as possible for Jan and Judy. We asked Johnny to grab a couple of coconuts to share with them. What a guy!

Friday morning was an OMS prayer time, so we didn't have classes. Melissa and I took Jan and Judy in the afternoon to tour the Meds and Food for Kids facility on the other side of Cap Haitien.  They have an impressive operation producing nutritional peanut butter based snacks for malnourished children.

We were there to buy some of those snacks for the Potter's House orphans courtesy of Maelyn Kiser, an enterprising young lady from our home church who raised money last year as a high school senior to help the orphans.

The kids enjoyed their extra day off at home: Friday afternoon in the yard on the rope swing.

Yesterday we took Jan and Judy to the beach - a well deserved reward for so much work they've done for Cowman over the last two weeks.

As a bonus for us, our friends from Emmaus Seminary were also there. Sarah enjoyed some time with Lily and Sofie and baby Nora.

And we inaugurated our new inflatable kayak - a little family toy I snuck onto the container early in August.

I loved watching Jan play in the sand with Samuel and Camden!

A fantastic lunch all together at Cormier Beach. I almost forgot to mention that Valerie Colie was also with us - she's another one who has worked tirelessly to get Cowman off to a good start this year!

This morning I took Jan and Judy out to see Daniel and his kids. It's always eye-opening and humbling to see the neighborhood kids who come to eat and to watch Daniel at the helm, week after week serving his neighborhood in Jesus' name. 

Afterward, I spent most of the afternoon ... and the evening with my head under the kitchen sink.  I was determined to finally get rid of what Melissa has been calling the "camping sink" and install the nice deep sink and new faucet that my brother Spencer gave us (over a year ago!).

I'm not the most skilled handy man on the planet, but I persevered.

And ALMOST succeeded. 

It's not clipped down or caulked and there's a small drip underneath, but good enough to start washing some dishes. Samuel got the honor of being the first to use the new sink.

I have to say it again: We are BLESSED! Good friends, fulfilling work and running water. We can't ask for much more. Thanks for your support and prayers. We are looking forward to seeing what week number two holds!

NOT READY FOR PRIME TIME

But here it comes anyway. The first day of school. TOMORROW!

And it's going to be another historic year. For Melissa, the biggest change is that she won't be tied to one particular classroom, but will be supervising and guiding the teachers from preschool through 6th while continuing to develop the school's curriculum. For me, the biggest change is that we actually have a junior and senior high now (through 10th grade, anyway) and I get to focus on Bible and English for them all because we have new folks in place to teach social studies, math and science for these upper levels. Big things are happening!

Our family returned to Haiti almost three weeks ago and it feels like we've been running non-stop ever since, while picking up the pace a bit with each passing day. Melissa and I are pooped out - and we're not the only ones. 

But we are VERY THANKFUL for a short delay for our start date. If we had started last Thursday as originally planned, it could have been a complete disaster. 

For our junior high and high school students, the pictures below show THE major source of disruption. Construction on the two new classrooms fell behind last spring - due to mango tree roots being where a foundation needed to be - and it just never recovered. 

Here's me last week in my new classroom:

And our new science teacher, Chris Love, in hers:

And Melissa's new office:

With absolutely no spare rooms on Cowman's campus, the best solution regarding unfinished classrooms was to use a couple of the old seminary classrooms on the main OMS mission grounds to temporarily house the junior and senior high. Advantage: these classrooms are a short walk from our house.

Disadvantage: 

Well, nothing that some paint and a few gallons of sweat couldn't fix. 

We DID get a few breaks from work now and then, for sanity's sake. The Loves treated us to lunch at the Cap Deli one day, for example.

And we made a few trips into the market in Cap Haitien.

And there were a few training sessions mixed in as well. Here, our two wonderful house guests from Oregon, Jan and Judy, led a seminar on effective teaching practices. These two ladies have been an incredible blessing to Cowman and our family. They work through the day non-stop, drop into bed at night and jump out of bed the next day ready to go at it again. And all with an incredibly durable servant attitude and a humble dependence on prayer. 

In the height of the craziness of school preparation, the Loves' container arrived on Thursday. This has to be a record - 3 weeks from Indianapolis to the Loves' front yard.

A wonderful blessing to have it arrive so quickly, but it certainly did add to the craziness in huge ways, especially for the Loves.

Here Chris oversees the unloading, the sorting and the inspecting of box after box by customs officials. 

Much of the shipment consisted of the Loves' household items, but the medical clinic got the lion's share with several hospital beds, exam tables and birthing beds. Some items ended up in our yard as well: the kids' basketball goal, a futon, some book shelves and lots and lots of shoes from our friends at Shiloh Wesleyan Church in Spencer and the sweet kids at Little Seeds Preschool in Columbus. 

And another blessing - many new (to us) resources also came for Cowman. Chris has a teacher friend who donated dry erase boards, microscopes and lab equipment! 

Anyway, it's Sunday night and the dust is just now settling and I think Melissa and I are feeling (mostly) ready for a new school year to start. 

Our new classrooms currently look like this:

The scaffolding is holding plywood in place so that the ceilings can be poured next week. Then it all stays in place while the cement cures for two weeks. 

So we will be in the temporary classrooms for at least the next few weeks. Mine now looks like this:

It's tight, but functional.

And Melissa didn't want me to show you pictures of her office, because it is not entirely organized yet, but you wouldn't believe how much sorting and boxing and shelving has gone on in here over the past week - all while new loads of STUFF were continually dumped in the center of the room!

If you think of it, could you lift a prayer for our first day - for the students (especially the ones who are brand new), for our teachers (again, especially the ones who are brand new), and for our principal, Angie Bundy, who has been down all weekend with a bad back?

We'll keep you posted on our progress!

MAKE THIS PLACE YOUR HOME

Our summer in the States has ended in what has become a familiar pattern: a rush of goodbyes, thank yous and packing. All culminating with my brother Russ and his son Ethan helping our family and 14 suitcases make it to the Indianapolis airport EARLY Tuesday morning, one week ago. 




We really enjoyed having another Hoosier family to travel with throughout the day - Jeff and Chris Love and their son Camden shared our flights as they moved to Haiti to begin work at Cowman School. Chris will be teaching our junior and senior high science courses and Jeff will be helping out with math and technology. 

The flight to Miami was smooth (though the flight crew was a bit cranky regarding our 60 pound carry-ons filled with frozen meats) and after a short layover in Miami, we finally felt we were going home.

Retrieving luggage at the Cap Haitien airport is quite the experience, but by 2:00 or so, we were loaded on the back of the cattle truck for the final stretch.

My Haitian sons and the Bundy kids had decorated our front door for our arrival.

So good to be home!

And we didn't just dump the Loves in their new home. 

We've tried to do what we can over the course of this past week to help them get what they need to get settled in. Pray for them - it can be quite an ordeal (in a thousand unexpected ways) to move onto the mission field here.

Here Melissa and Samuel are helping Chris and Camden clean some dresser drawers so the Loves could get their clothes out of their suitcases.

Meanwhile, we've kept busy getting our own house back in order after being absent for over two months. 

I also jumped into initial preparations for our adult English classes that will start mid-September. Registration for classes gets a bit crazy - especially for Level 1. We only had 100 seats open for Level 1 and well over 200 people showed up. And consider this: we don't advertise these classes in the least. This is all word of mouth. 

Yesterday and today we turned our attention to Cowman. I'm sure we'll have more to share about preparations there in the coming days. For now, I guess I can say we're looking for a "Please pardon our progress" sign, and leave it at that! 

You might recognize the title of this post from a Phillip Phillips pop song that got frequent radio play a few years ago. The lyrics went like this:

Hold on to me as we go

As we roll down this unfamiliar road

And although this wave is stringing us along

Just know you're not alone

'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home

Settle down, it'll all be clear

Don't pay no mind to the demons

They fill you with fear

The trouble - it might drag you down

If you get lost, you can always be found

Just know you're not alone

'Cause I'm gonna make this place your home

I remember hearing this song as I drove alone in my car one day just over three years ago. It is one of a handful of times in my life when I have heard God's voice almost audibly and most certainly clearly. 

Melissa and I were neck-deep in preparations to move our family to Haiti at that moment and as the song started, it occurred to me that I needed to make sure I wasn't so self-focused in the process that I would forget my duties as a father to make my kids feel at home once we arrived in Haiti. Maybe you'll understand what I mean when I say the very thought filled me with anxiety. HOW can I make Haiti a home for my kids? Where do I start? And what if I fail?

God cut straight through my anxiety: "You can relax. I am the One who will do this and I will do it for your entire family. Including YOU."

In my gut I believed it and I know that I did because the fear instantly left me. And I can't tell you all the ways my family - my entire family - has seen God work this into a reality in our lives in Haiti. 

We are blessed to have two homes - we enjoyed "being home" in Indiana over the summer and we are excited now to be home in Haiti. 



In the midst of it all, Melissa and I are constantly grateful for all of you who support our work here through prayer and finances. God bless you!

And He said to them, "Truly I say to you, there is no one who has left house or wife or brothers or parents or children, for the sake of the kingdom of God, who will not receive many times as much at this time and in the age to come, eternal life."                                                           Luke 18:29-30