Thursday, July 22, 2010 Back in Haiti

I’m back in Haiti at Joyhouse. What a joy to see how the team has performed in my absence! Each doing so well in the areas they are assigned. I see my Savior’s hand on them so powerfully!

Eddy said” We have been trained well. We are not children anymore.” And that is so true, but I responded they “act like” children so much, it’s hard to tell sometimes, but now I see it! We both laughed!

When I first got back to the US, I had to adjust. No bug spray after every shower, hot showers, no malaria meds every day! I couldn’t believe how grateful I was just to soak in a hot tub! Of course we Americans suffer through the daily luxuries as best we can. It didn’t take long for me, as a spoiled American, to expect things like a great place to eat, TV 24/7, a great internet connection, no mosquitoes in the bedroom every night, a nice comfortable home with A/C, green grass, clean clear water to drink and even water the lawn, or as my daughter found, to power wash the house.

My trip home was a whirlwind of meetings, paperwork and administrative duties for the ministry. I had some time to catch up with friends, family and my life in the states, but I will have to say, there was a great and almost unexplainable joy to arrive back in Haiti. I think Roland was sorry he was the one who had to pick me up at the airport. I talked 90 miles an hour the whole way back. I think I gave him a headache.

On the way back, we made several stops for ministry business and supplies. Soon, we were on the way to JoyHouse. What a joy it was to come up the hill and into the driveway. Such a reception! Everyone hugged me and welcomed me back. Matthew hugged me so tight I could hardly breathe.

Everyone had done so well with their individual duties. I was so excited to see how well they had done. I was a little puzzled about how excited they were to see me. Then as I listen to them talk, I heard things like “Roland was a lot harder than you and Papa Joe” and “ You are easier on us than Roland” and I realized that was a part of the reason for my welcome! They were also excited to hear about the plans for JoyHouse and what new things were on the horizon!

There was a lot of laughter and conversation in the house last night as each one filled me in on their area. I learned about the challenges and blessings each had encountered in my absence. It has been so good to see how they have stepped up and risen to the occasion. It was exciting to hear what each one had accomplished.
Nadie, Roland’s wife, has taken over managing the kitchen and the house. She has done an excellent job.

Matthew was in the field with a team. Matthew is such a perfectionist. He was ready to report on everything that wasn’t perfect. He’s doing a great job, but I always know his report will be less than perfect. He always finishes with “Ahhh, we do the best we can!” Yet he is so awesome at his job!

Roland was a great “overseer” of the entire ministry. Some say he is more of a “task master.” He managed to get everything we needed done and more!

Eddy preached at Jesus Church of Santos on Sunday. He also held a 3 day revival at a church in Carrefour. He had 6 salvations there! Roland preached at Eddy’s church in Carrefour on Sunday. Reginald baptized 3 yesterday.

Daniel is preparing for a team of 3 to come from Canada to work in the field on the Daniel Project next week. They will also be working in the Women’s Ministry. Due to the box embargo right now, we were very limited on what we could bring into Haiti. Pray that we can find the supplies we need to carry out the plans we have for the women’s ministry next week.

Maggie, Rosemary and Zet have done a great job in the house and kitchen! Right now, Maggie is away at the market, Charlie is getting water and supplies, Eddy is studying and praying. Nadie is doing inventory and planning. Lucee is back in his hometown searching for his birth certificate so he can start school here in Gressier next month. I miss him!

Samuel is working on the bus. I brought back magnetic JoyHouse signs for the bus and the gate. He was very excited. It was funny to watch him circle the bus and try to figure out exactly where to put the signs. I had Eddy take a picture!

Princess is playing with some magnetic numbers. She is putting them on the gate and arranging and re arranging them. I asked her if she had fun at JoyHouse while I was away. She said “Oh Oui (wee)!” and then added a loud “yes!”
Roland planted 3 more trees. He also finished the plaster on the outside front wall. It looks really nice.

We had a team of 10 with Florida Disaster. They are mostly from Louisville KY. They are great young people. As usual, they love the food. We had a lot of laughter and joy in the house last night! They built 3 houses yesterday. They have also done a lot of demo. They have accomplished a lot since they arrived on Sunday.

The leader of the team and I found we have a friend in common in Louisville. He goes to the same University as Drew Griffin. I had breakfast with Drew while I was back in the states.

Lisa rode a tap tap after school out to JoyHouse. She got so involved in a conversation about the bible, that she missed her stop at JoyHouse. She ended up riding a few miles too far. She had to get off and catch another tap tap back to JoyHouse. They were laughing at her as she told her story last night!

Reginald has 2 couples ready for the Joyful Wedding project. We are setting a date in August sometime for the weddings. This will be three couples since Cheryl Thomas answered God’s call and started the “Joyful Wedding Project”.

We met with Pastor Donnie and Bernie from Mena, AR while back in the states. We are looking forward to seeing another team from there in December.

Pray for Daryl Yerton. He is beginning to lay the groundwork for a great vision he has involving JoyHouse.

We heard from Christine (summer intern). She is out of the country, but sent a box of supplies for the women’s ministry and the Daniel Project. She also sent some cookies for Matthew. The cookies looked so good, I ate most of them before I got here! I replaced them with some other cookies. As I confessed to Matthew what I had done, he shrieked “Oh no!” but I said I couldn’t help myself, so he forgave me!

Christine sent some great pictures we have used on the blog for the Daniel Project. Oh my how blessed JoyHouse was to have these 2 interns! We miss them so much. Kristen will be married soon and Christine will be off to NYU. We will continue doing what we do… a little sweeter and better since they were here.

Norma