SPRING BREAK WEEK

Cowman usually enjoys an early spring break because OMS Haiti tends to choose the week of Mardi Gras as the best time for our annual missionary staff retreat.

My family was excited to be going to the Dominican Republic for a few days and especially excited to have Pastor Phil Dicks from Grundy Center, Iowa join us as our retreat leader for the teens. The week most definitely would not have been the same without him - he is the life of the party everywhere he goes. You'll notice that most of my pictures from the week include him in one way or another.

He arrived early, so we put him to work planning some special music for our last chapel at Cowman before the break. Here he is pulling the team of Cowman staff and students together:

And they all did a great job - in the matching neon shirts Phil provided for them! We can always count on Phil to bring a lot of enthusiasm and JOY to a chapel service.

Phil also brought a "cajon" - a type of box drum you sit on to play. Here's Hannah taking a turn at percussion during a rousing rendition of "Love the Lord Your God with All Your Heart".

Early Saturday morning, a group of 32 of us boarded a bus bound for the Dominican border. It was a very classy bus. Phil had trouble looking out his window without undue distraction.

After two hours on Haitian roads, an hour at the border and another three hours into the Dominican, we arrived at Sosua by the Sea. A beautiful spot to relax, regroup and reconnect with the Lord.

Because of a scheduling mix up, our retreat leaders (some friends from Florida) and the childcare workers they brought with them were only with us for the first 24 hours of the retreat. The adults talked through some group dynamics issues and competed in a photo scavenger hunt:

While the little ones got to do some games and crafts:

Our teenagers, on the other hand, spent the three days trying to keep up with Pastor Phil.

The adults had plenty of time to relax and enjoy each other's company around the pool.

I got a little father/daughter time after breakfast one beautiful morning:

Pastor Phil kept the teens fueled up on candy and ice cream.

Here's Caleb expending a little extra sugar energy on the beach, trying to perfect his hand stand.

We enjoyed some time of worship together, led by Phil and the teens.

And some karaoke, which sometimes garnered less than stellar reviews from some of the other hotel guests - although Phil always knocked them dead with "Dream the Impossible Dream". Here's Jeff Love, Phil and I performing "Rawhide".

We always appreciate having a few days of meals cooked by someone else and dishes washed by someone else. It gives us time to focus on conversation and laughs. 

On our third and final day, Melissa took Hannah and Sarah to Santiago for orthodontist appointments and shopping (2 and a half hours each direction!) while Phil graciously invited me to join him on a little local adventure - a morning of deep sea fishing. 

Even if I had known ahead of time that we'd be spending four hours on 10 foot swells and that my stomach would be threatening to turn inside out the whole while (and for several hours afterwards), even so I would have gone, because I'm not one to pass up spending time with Phil. 

It was just the two of us, two Swedes and a New Yorker plus the captain and his two shipmates on this rather smallish boat. As soon as we stepped on board, the captain says in a thick but understandable accent, "Upstairs you'll find some life jackets in case this boat goes *BLOOOP*. You never know when a boat will go *BLOOOP* - the Titanic was supposed to be unsinkable and it went *BLOOOP*!" 

About an hour away from land, the wind kicked up, waves crashed over the side of the boat as we went up one side and down the next and I was seriously wishing the captain had gone into a bit more detail about what to do in case the boat went *BLOOOP*. One of the Swedes and the New Yorker lost their breakfasts, but I kept my composure - through sheer will power.

Phil, on the other hand, chatted up one of the crew like the boat was moored to a dock and perfectly still. I was impressed.

Unsurprisingly with such winds and waves, the fishing was on the meager side: the only catch of the day was a mahi mahi that one of the Swedes got the privilege to reel in. Phil taught me some important fishing lessons: 1) how to pose with a fish and pretend you caught it and 2) how to hold it closer to the camera so that it looks twice as big as it actually was. 

In the end, I decided I preferred admiring the ocean from this vantage point on land. What a gorgeous place!

With some gorgeous people...

There's no therapy quite like beach therapy...

A couple of folks were missing for our traditional end-of-retreat group photo, but this is most of us...

It's back to the real world tomorrow morning when school resumes, but I think the kids, Melissa and I are all feeling rested and ready to continue ministry at Cowman, intent to finish the school year strong... to follow the Lord's leading ... 

to dream the impossible dream!

TOYS

In recent weeks, instead of making laps around the mission grounds, I have been getting my exercise by jogging through local neighborhoods. It gets me outside the walls of the mission grounds and, now and then, a bit of practice in conversational Creole. I always have my phone along - in case of emergency, yes, but mostly for taking photos. For whatever reason, lately many of my favorite photo opportunities on these runs have involved homemade toys.

Here's a soccer goal just across the street from the mission. For perspective, you need to know that Haitian goals tend to be about a tenth of the size of American goals. This one is maybe two feet tall and a foot and a half deep. The "net" is an old t-shirt ripped open wide and anchored with a couple of rocks:

On this past New Year's Day I came across this little guy and his kite made of a black plastic grocery bag stretched over a couple of sticks.

The kite photo reminds me of another I took on a walk up the hillside toward Johnny and Ruysdael's neighborhood about a year ago, when I came across a little boy dragging a toy car on a string.

Only the car wasn't molded plastic mass-produced in China, it was an empty motor oil bottle with bottle cap wheels:

I don't know what anyone else might see in this photo, but to me it is not an image of  the ugliness of Haiti's poverty so much as it is an image of the beauty of human ingenuity and childlike imagination. I don't feel pity for this little guy - I feel admiration.

Likewise for the little boy or girl who sacrificed the waistband of a pair of Hanes underwear to make this slingshot:

One of the sentiments I commonly hear from visitors to Haiti (and I said the exact same thing my first trip here!) goes something like this: "I can't believe how joyful people can be when they have so little!"

These days, when I hear this shocked expression, it gives me pause. Because if we're surprised that people can be joyful when lacking an abundance of possessions, what does that say about what we really believe the true and indispensable source of our own joy to be?

You might be among the many Christians who have John 10:10 memorized. This is where Jesus famously tells his disciples, "I have come that you may have life and have it in abundance." 

I have always interpreted "abundant life" to mean a life filled with joy and purpose, a life lived in right relationship with our Creator and fellow man. The kind of life for which we were originally created and the kind of life which is simply impossible outside of a relationship with Christ.

This word "abundance" that Jesus uses in John 10:10 in a positive sense is the same Greek word he uses in Luke 12:15 as part of a stern warning:

"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for a man's life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."

Then, Jesus proceeds to tell a parable of a rich man who kicks back in self-satisfaction after building bigger and better barns to contain his crops only to find it is his last night on earth. Jesus concludes, "this is how it will be with anyone who stores up things for himself but is not rich toward God" (v 21). 

I'm not sure if it could be said of us first world Christians that we are "on our guard" against ANY kind of greed, much less ALL kinds. And it's tough because American culture encourages all kinds of greed non-stop. Hour by hour, millions of radios, billboards, television sets and computer screens remind us of things we don't currently have ... but how we really, really need them. Immediately! As I finish writing this post, America is gearing up to watch the Super Bowl, famous for its multi-million dollar 30-second advertisements. Who would pay so much for such commercials if they weren't effective?

(As a side note, I don't think my family will be able to watch the Super Bowl here - except maybe the football parts without the commercials ... and then what's the point. I have long considered this to be one of the many blessings of raising our kids in Haiti - the relative scarcity of media choices. For example, if you want to see for yourself how utterly different and simply beautiful the Christmas season can be without commercials and all the extra glitter, schedule a trip to come visit us next December! Seriously.)

So back to the photos of homemade toys. My goal here certainly isn't to romanticize poverty* in any way, especially not the extreme poverty too common in Haiti, but rather to provide a gut-check for those of us living in the midst of abundance: ARE we on guard against all kinds of greed? DO we honestly agree with Jesus in our heart of hearts that our lives do not consist in the abundance of possessions? Does it SHOW on our receipts? In our closets? In our garages? Could WE be joyful and content with nothing more than Jesus' presence in our lives?

We must take action and find some practical ways to "be on our guard" and stem the tide of stuff. It won't be easy - especially when we find it so difficult even to walk out of the local Target with JUST the thing we came for? If you have workable ideas, leave them in the comments below!

I don't have any easy answers - all I know is that the struggle against stockpiling worldly possessions is necessary, because Jesus commands it, and that the more joy we find in the Lord, the less we'll be drawn to the things of this world. The abundant life is not dependent on having an abundance of things.

Here is one more picture, this one from last weekend when I walked to Ma Louis' house to take her a shopping list. (She braves the fruit and vegetable market for us each week and is such a blessing to our family.) These two boys were in the house next door to Ma Louis and they greeted me from the porch as I passed. They were in the middle of a game of checkers - the board was squares scribbled in blue ink on a piece of cardboard and their "checkers" were plastic bottle caps. They gave me their names: that's Alexandre on the left and Steeve on the right.  

I asked if I could get a photo of their game, but what really stands out in this photo, to my eye, is the joy.

"He who has God and everything else has no more 

than he who has God only."

- C. S. Lewis

* Please don't misunderstand my point. I am very well aware there is a poverty that destroys lives, crushes hope and swallows individuals and whole families in great and persistent suffering: no money to put the kids in school, no money to see a doctor, no money to buy food for the table, and no money to provide safe shelter overhead. And no way to get that necessary money. The believer's basic duty to live out a faith that combats both physical and spiritual poverty is what motivates our ministry here.

HOW'S YOUR CONFIDENCE?

I did a double-take and then had to snap a picture of this sight on a side street not far from our house while I was on a morning run a few days ago.

Haitians often decorate their passenger vehicles with slogans in Creole or French - "The Blood of Jesus", "Only God", etc. My single year of college French from 30 years ago aided me in recognizing the meaning behind this once boldly painted inscription of "CONFIANCE EN DIEU".

Yup, "Confidence in God".

I still can't decide if it's funny or sublime.

How's YOUR confidence in God? 

A little banged up? Riddled with holes? 

Wheels fallen off?

Going nowhere? Stuck in a rut?

We live in a fallen and broken world, ambushed all too frequently by pain, discouragement and fear. Confusion. Uncertainty. Depression. And sometimes life's path cuts unavoidably straight through the valley of the shadow of death itself.

Today, if you are one of those whose confidence in God is fading, ebbing, lagging, gasping for breath, know that I am praying for you. 

This past week Cowman's Scripture memory verse was from John 6. The entire chapter is so fascinating. It begins with Jesus feeding the 5,000. Then they want to make him an earthly king by force. So Jesus slips away and later walks three miles across water to catch up with the 12 disciples. Then some of the 5,000 pursue him to Capernaum. And there he talks about their need to eat his flesh and drink his blood and they are offended by this and by his claim that he "came down from heaven". 

The gathered crowds disperse. Grumbling, they walk away from Jesus. 

And Jesus turns to the 12 disciples and asks, "Are you guys leaving too?"

Peter's response is one of my favorite lines in all of Scripture and one I have often pondered when life has gotten confusing and God doesn't seem to make sense:

"Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life."

In other words, as the idiom goes, "Lord, you've got me over a barrel. I don't see the way forward, but I know there's no turning back."

In that moment, the act of following Jesus generated more questions than answers and it wasn't easy to believe, but Peter dismissed alternative paths as utterly untenable, preferring to cling to Jesus because his words had the unmistakable ring of truth. The ring of eternal life.

When you're over that barrel, where you don't see the path forward in the present darkness, I pray that you too will recognize there's no going backwards, and as difficult as it may be, cling in the darkness to the One who speaks the words of Eternal Life.

And someday your confidence will be sight.

"Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." - I Corinthians 13:12

Hang in there!

DECEMBER IN PHOTOS

December is now a blur, but I didn't want to let slip the opportunity to post some pictures from last month. So here are a few, with limited commentary!


Caleb has been working on his guitar skills and has played at several Friday morning chapels now at Cowman.

A bit of warm-up with Frantz before the start of chapel.

The big news for junior and senior high students was the return of Chris Love to the science classroom after weeks of mystery illness. We were so glad to have her back! The paparazzi came out in full force.

By the time our staff Christmas party rolled around, she seemed to be back to her old fun-loving and energetic self.

The highlight of that party was the white elephant gift exchange. Here's Johnny sporting a lovely purse.

Miss Suzie seemed a bit interested in the contents of the purse as she decided whether or not to steal it away from Johnny.

Here's Rose anticipating what might be inside the gift she has chosen. (It was a clock ... and Melissa stole it from her!)

(But then Melissa wrapped it up and gave it back to Rose on Christmas Day.)

Our principal, Angie Bundy, showing some Christmas spirit.

Meanwhile construction continued on the second floor of Cowman High School right above my classroom. We are grateful for the progress, but tiring of the noise...

Sarah spent a lot of time working on some wall art to give as gifts to her friends Kristina and Faith.

One afternoon a gusty wind came up and Sarah and Kristina watched the trees sway while sitting atop the pickup truck.

These two are such tight friends! Can you tell?

The breeze was a bit chilly (for Haiti). And, remarkably, a tree fell on top of Mikenn's house as I was videotaping the girls, but no storm ever materialized and their was no property damage, thank goodness.

One morning I was called on to dispense with a family of rats that had made a nest in the light fixture in Melissa's office. I only managed to snag two of the youngsters as mama was moving the family to a safer location. The rest are still at large.

Among other things, December means Mr. Mikenn's birthday. Melissa baked a pan of brownies so Mikenn could celebrate with his first graders and his lead teacher Mr. Ben.

At home we do our best to make things look Christmassy - a tall order when the fans are working hard to disperse the heat as the sun streams through the mosquito screens. It's always bittersweet to hold special ornaments in our hands again, knowing another year has passed.

Sadly, this December meant saying goodbye to our friends the Mokmas, who spent the last year and a half working at nearby Children of the Promise orphanage. Their kids were our students at Cowman for the time they were here. Hard to see them go, but praying God's blessing on their journey.

Melissa's annual women's Christmas Brunch happened on Saturday the 17th and this year 17 women attended as well as ten young ladies.

The next day we drove to Puerto Plata in the Dominican Republic for a few days away with the Heckmans, Ayars and Edlers from Emmaus Biblical Seminary. A truly refreshing and relaxing time.

Our three oldest doing a bit of exploring with their pal Ethan.

If you have to play basketball, this is a beautiful spot for it.

Melissa and I enjoyed a cup of coffee on the beach our last morning as we watched the sunrise. Now one of my favorite memories of 2016!

We parted ways with the others on Wednesday and drove to Santiago in order to get Hannah to her orthodontist appointment.

AND to take the family to see Rogue One. In English, with Spanish subtitles.

And to enjoy some familiar fast food at the local Burger King.

Melissa was excited to show the rest of the family the local "PriceSmart" in Santiago - a subsidiary of Sam's Club. She and Hannah had discovered it on their first trip to the orthodontist in early November. It was pretty remarkable.

Just like a Sam's Club, this place had a little bit of everything. (And yes, even free food samples!) Caleb dreamed of getting a new guitar.

I posted our Christmas Eve and Christmas Day pictures elsewhere and mentioned that our kids have started summer shopping for each other's gifts. That's how Sarah ended up with this sign that the three oldest felt was more than appropriate:

Like in the States, Christmas break affords teachers and kids alike ample opportunities to relax and enjoy the passing days. Caleb, in particular, used some of his time to further friendships with some of the local boys while also getting practice in speaking Creole.

Also over the last week in December, we have been thrilled to spend time with Kate and Storly Michel, who are not only good friends, they are also the instruments God used to get us to Haiti in the first place. Here their girls, Hannah and Esther, roast marshmallows with Sarah and Samuel in the backyard before a sudden rain shower sent them scrambling back inside for the night.

A couple of final pictures that really sum up December in Haiti:

A homemade Christmas tree at the side of a dusty, pothole-riddled road, set up for all passersby to enjoy - 

And one of the flowers among the landscaping in front of the house in the late afternoon sun.

The weather here in December and January is absolutely gorgeous. Shouldn't you come visit us next Christmas??

We pray 2017 is off to an incredible start for you and that it will prove to be a year abundantly blessed by the Lord!