Dreams and Reality

I want to share some of our dreams. Things that we hope to do. Things we believe God brought us here to do. I want you at home reading this to see into our minds and maybe join us in dreaming.

We want to house these young men that stay with us, in a safe,loving, Christian environment and getting to know this boys, their hopes and dreams. To help give them skills that may help them in the future. We are living this dream.

We knew we would be leading teams when we moved. It is something we enjoy, to watch people as they are introduced to a new culture and to be able to walk with them through it. To share that know matter where you go in the world, people are the same in the most basic of ways, We are all created by God, the Gospel applies to the entire world, people want to be loved, they have hopes and dreams, laugh and cry, live and die.

Something that was thrust upon us that we never expected was to be put in a position of leadership for CCH, that we find ourselves in now. But our hope and dream is to be Godly leaders to show by our actions, not just words, that we live what we believe. We believe we are called to show God's love to our staff by being there for them. Not just, yeah I hope that works out for you, but to actually be there for them. We were very happy that when the hurricane Tomas was coming there were no teams and the staff and others that needed shelter were able to stay at the Isaiah 61house. Our daughter, Carrie was out at midnight taking money to one of our staff that was sick and in the hospital.

There are so many people in need all around us, everywhere, I'm asked several times a day for money, food and/or a job. One of the realities is we can't help everyone, then there's who do I help? God tell me who to help today, how do I be a good neighbor to everyone? We are involved with a group of deaf students that collect sea glass and make necklaces, we buy the necklaces from them and resell them to teams. The money gives them income and the rest goes into buying materials for more necklaces. We have another idea for something similiar with people with disabilities to create jobs for them.

The realities of Haiti is that it is hard, on your body, mind, and spirit. Everything takes two or three times as long to accomplish. One simple thing can take a whole day to do.
Since my last post, CCH's van was impounded in Port Au Prince because the temp tag had expired. We have to go through a bunch of stuff to get it back, so we've been walking back and forth to the Isaiah 61 house, I started taking motos (motorcycle taxi's) when alone to save time. CCH has three moto's of it's own, so I started driving one, the moto drivers are alittle wreckless for my taste. Needless to say another moto that was flying hit me from behind. The other guy was hurt pretty bad, I was banded up but managed to stay up on my bike so was not as badly hurt (body).
To see the struggles of so many for everyday necessities and the level of poverty (mind).
The combination of body and mind, coupled with the everyday stuff, beats down the spirit.

Yet I'm thankful for it all because I'm well aware of how much I need God, every moment of everyday.

And I'm are so Thankful for the family and friends God has put into our lives, that I know are praying for us daily.

The biggest dream, I think for all of us is to serve the Lord our God with everything we have and someday hear,,, well done good and faithful servant.

November 2010

It's now November 2010, into our fifth month in Haiti. We are working for CCH as the Directors of Outreach and the leaders of the Isaiah 61 house (team housing). Things are calm right now as their are no teams. We have worked hard to establish an order and gain the trust and respect of the staff. We have done everything from maintainance to writing job descriptions and contracts for staff.
We just dealt with Hurricane Tomas a few days ago. We asked our staff to stay at the Isaiah house if their homes were in any way questionable and bring their immediate family with them. We had 40+ people including a couple of girls from a nearby tent city and two men with physical disabilities. One of men Jean Robert has been in a wheelchair since the Earthquake in January. The earthquake broke his body but not his spirit. He is a very friendly person, everytime I saw him he was smiling. We exchanged phone numbers, I hope to get to talk to him soon. Thanks to God the hurricane wasn't bad. As always in Haiti, I heard of seven deaths due to flood waters, again Thankful for the low number.
As well as continuing on with CCH, we also are continuing the boys home, which is a sponsership program for boys from another town that come to Jacmel to go to school. We are also working with a group of deaf students buying Seaglass necklaces from them to sell as souveniers for teams.
The thing everyone wants to know is the status of the Pye Family. Danny is still being HELD, no charges just HELD sounds nicer than false imprisonment. Alot of people are praying for his release and alot of people are pushing the authorities to pressure the judge into releasing him. The affect is a judge who claims to be conducting an investigation, and doesn't want people to think he is being paid to release Danny. He prefers to hold a person for no reason, so it looks like he's being paid to keep him there, go figure. We were told that JIH dropped the complaint against Danny. Which why wouldn't they, they got everything they wanted from getting Danny thrown into jail, a distraught wife and family that would do anything to get her husband and their father released, including giving up the assets that were given to the Pyes because of their love for the Haitian people and what they are doing for the children, by people that support them not an organization.
As we continue to push forward, we pray that we can forgive our enemies, and keep focused on why we are here, to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ to the people of Haiti. Please continue to pray for us as we travel down the road before us.