Mission Blog

 Today was a simple day. I went to the school and hung out all day. I was able to speak with each of our staff staff individually. We talked about the students and how they were doing in their studies. We also talked about how we might be able to assist each classroom to help the professors reach the goals they have for their students. Seems to be that the biggest problem is that a lot of the parents do not support the is children’s education. Meaning, they do not encourage them to do the homework and they will not supply them with the proper resources, school books. This is a big problem. Each class has a percentage of students who do not have books which mean they fall far behind. It’s not that the books are to expensive (unless you live in Haiti) but that is the one thing all parents know before each school year is that they are responsible for their child’s school books. It’s a small investment and we supply all other resources. It’s an ownership thing. The area where the school sits is a place where they raise animals and grow crops. They work the fields and they want their children to work the fields. Most of Haiti is a day to day living. Not looking ahead but looking at today’s survival. Cultural or not it is a big problem for some of our students. We will have to come up with a plan to battle this problem by the start of next year. Our students and staff are a very happy group. God has blessed us so much to be able to minister to this small group of people. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.  Kenny

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. This cold is kicking my butt and i did not have a very good nights sleep last night. My time is limited this trip so I must press on. Maybe today will be better. We headed into town to the Digicel office to get a new cell phone for me. The one I have is three years old and it has gotten to the point to where you can hardly hear the conversation. Going up town is a trip in itself. When we left the guest house we went through the Tabarre market. This is an area where you can hardly navigate a vehicle because of the thousands of people. Hundreds of vendors selling the same things. Stuff like cloths, veggies, meat, house ware, you name it. I would love to have had a few pics of this place but it just was not appropriate at the time. You don’t want to take a picture of someone if they are not cool with it, it can cause a major hassle. Anyway we got another cheap phone and headed back through town and out to the property to check on the progress of the roof. When we got to the house the men were preparing the framing so that the roof will be ready for concrete. This will be one of the strongest built houses in Haiti. I’ve watched the construction from the ground up. We have permits and approval from the local governing bodies which is something most do not do. We have used bigger and more rebar than most homes and the roof will be the same. Concrete roofs are vert common here and if done correctly there are no problems. The problems are from people not using the proper size rebar, using cheap blocks and not mixing the concrete properly. These are all money saving issues. But when the quake rumbled through most those cheaply built buildings came crumbling down. The money saved is useless now. Building a strong foundation is scriptural. With all that said this will be a good safe house. May God richly bless all those who have helped with this home. The day is done and I’ll be headed back to my watering hole shortly in hopes of a good nights rest.  Kenny

 Oh yeah nothing like a head full of NyQuil from the night before to start the day. I actually had a fairly good night sleep last night considering. As I ate breakfast this morning Lila the cook at the guest house brought me some concoction made out of I don’t  know what. Through her creole and body language she made me believe that this stuff would help. As I looked at it I wasn’t sure what it was but thought what the heck I feel like crap anyway how could this hurt. I downed it and it tasted really good and it did make me feel better for a little while. I started the day at the school where I greeted the children and teachers. I only hung out there for a short time because my journey this time was to get started on the roof of Harrys house. The lord blessed us with the funds so today was a  gathering material day. Tomorrow will be much the same. Things work so differently here and there is no rush. We could all learn a lot from these guys if we wanted. Patience is a virtue here. It was a long day and the way I was feeling made it that much longer. I made it back to the guest house right around dark and as I sat down to eat Lila meet me with more of the mojo juice. I drank it, ate and now I’ll wait a while and then hit the NyQuil bottle and hope for a descent sleep. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Kenny, GMSM

 

Today started out in a good way. First off I had a killer night sleep and secomd  I feel a whole lot better than I did yesterday. I guess that’s my que to take off running today. Our first order of business was to go by Help for Haiti and visit our new Haiti connection and pick up 40 reusable 5 gallon buckets of rice meals. These are used for our food distribution program. We are so fortunate to be working with these guys who bless us with hassle free food purchase. Actually we do not pay for the food we only pay a portion of the shipping. We met pastor John at the compound and he hooked us up. Once  we were loaded up we prayed and hit the road headed for the school to unload the bounty. When I can pin Harry down for two minutes we will discuss the priority needs and distribute the food properly. I hung out with the kids for a while then we went back to the house site to gather more material and see how the progress was moving along. For the tools these dudes work with and the lumber they have to use, they are making good head way. Harry seems very pleased and he is very t;stoked to continue work on the house. Once all the framing is complete in each room the plywood is placed on top. Rebar will be ran from wall to wall and weaved together then concrete will be poured on top. There will be pictches on the four corners. This is a time consuming process but it will be a good strong roof. Praise God from whom all blessings flow, it was another good day in Haiti.

Kenny
GMSM

As always the trip in was smooth and easy. As always Pastor Harry was right there waiting to pick me up. Harry is very dependable and a gracious man. The afternoon was spent just chillin and catching up with Harry. It’s been over two months since I’ve been down due to the fact that my wife got very sick and was not able to teach for two months. I am normally down here at least every 6 weeks, but was not going to leave my family during this tough time. I firmly believe that God wants us to take care of our family first. If we can’t take care of our own family how then can we take care of Gods family. I guess I’ve been down here at about 50 times or so over the last 7 years and this trip I am facing a fear that I knew would eventually happen. I began feeling sick early Saturday morning at the airport and by the time I reached Haiti I was full blown sick with a mamma jamma cold or the flu. So needless to say Dr. Sites and Magnolia Clinic was not an option. After struggling through the catch up session with Harry I attempted to go to bed. All I have at this point is Advil. A little while later Harry re-showed back up with a local cold drug and said it would work. What I really wanted was some NyQuil to deal with the symptoms and help me sleep. I felt that I had no other choice but to try what he brought. It did help but I had a horrible night and generally felt like crap. When I did get up in the morning I was worse that the night before. I took another one of Harrys pills and praise the Lord if I did go to sleep and slept till 1:00 pm. I awoke to Harry and his family banging on the door. It was good to sleep. Harry and I went on a mad search for NuQuil and actually found some in a hole in the wall pharmacy. That’s almost a first in itself to actually accomplish something in Haiti on the first try. I hope tonight will be better, we have a busy day tomorrow. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

Today is the day I will fly back home to be with my family. I do not leave till 3:45 pm so I had time to go back to the school and take care of some unfinished business. That business was to give out some blankets to the children around the church community who are very needy. Needy is such a loose term down here. In reality most Haitians are very needy. These blankets were made from a group of ladies from Emmanuel United Methodist Church in Kentucky. This is a church that has helped us in many ways over the last couple of years. It was such a blessing to see these children receive these blankets. Along with the blankets Pastor Harry gave out many packets of the food that we got from Help for Haiti. This would be the start of our food distribution program. What a great way to end this adventure in Haiti. Late January is when I plan to go back so check your calendars and feel free to join me. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

This is the only photo I took today. I could not resist this. This actually passed the electrical inspection. Oh that’s right there is no electrical inspection. This scared me just looking at it. PTL my phone didn’t need to be charged.

What a blessed day we had today. God at times to seems to overly gracious. Today was one of those times. Harry and I met up with three very powerful Haitian Christians today. We usually hook up with these folks when I am down. We were able to help with some needs in a far away village that is really struggling. The names of our brother and sisters will remain a secret due to the persecution and violence they face. It was good that the Lord allowed us to help them out. Haiti has many eyes and ears and out of respect we have to be very careful.

We also met with Pastor Alex from Coats Little Angels Orphanage. We presented him with some boxes of food , some gifts for the children and helped fund a Christmas party. Santa would be proud. I know this honored God and that is all that really matters anyway. All the things we take for granted means a world to these folks down here. It’s days like these that I really have to search myself and dig deep and wonder why God chose me to live where I live and chose someone else to live here. I think that’s the hardest thing I deal with. I know His plan remains the same and salvation is the only answer. How that’s achieved is left up to our creator and how obedient His church is. Maybe in all His grace and mercy is why He has me where I’m at. Here I am Lord send me, praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

Nothing like a good night’s sleep to start off a long day in Haiti. We went to Mirabalas City today to get some money out of the bank and to receive some from Western Union. What a beautiful drive it was today. I have been down this road many times but today seemed so clear. We took public transportation which translates to twenty people in a 12 passenger van. Oh well it was cheap and on my budget I’m not complaining. Of course someone out there could buy us some transportation down here and it would make life much easier and safer. Until then I am content with riding with the locals.

Right before we reached Mirbalaise we were stopped by the ever so polite Haiti police department. We all had to get out and for some reason they kept moving me off by myself. I guess I looked a little out of place. Anyway I know what they were looking for and praise God they did not find it. They were looking for illegal guns. PTL I wasn’t packing mine….haha. This really was no joke. They really kept an eye on me and the young man with the AK47 that was taped together seemed like he was just looking for an excuse to see if it really worked. Oh well what is adventure without adventure?

They cleared Harry and me and we walked the rest of the way. I’m not sure what happened to the rest but I did not hear gunshots so all must’ve gone well. We got our cash and got out of that place. I’ve never felt good here in this town but it’s safer than PAP when dealing with cash. We got back to the safe haven of the church and finished up the Christmas gifts and called it a day. Praise God from whom all blessings flow.

Kenny
GMSM

Oh yeah, praise God from whom all blessings flow.

What else can I do on a day like the one we just went through. It really wasn’t bad considering what all we accomplished. We surely must be living right. If I’ve said this once I’m sure I’ve said it a hundred times. If you have a list of things to do in Haiti and accomplish just one thing on your list you are doing killer. We started off at the Tabarre market to do the Christmas shopping. Actually we had ordered all our stuff the day before and as I said in the blog yesterday a lady in the market would gather all our stuff and save us from the blan (American) price. In other word we would pay the Haitian street value not the inflated everybody who lives in America is a millionaire price. I am totally comfortable with the arrangements that we make. I do feel at times like what a drug dealer must feel doing all this covert under the table stuff.But at the end of the day it’s the Lords money and we need to make sure we get the best bang for the buck, anyway this is Haiti.

I stayed in the taptap while Harry handled the deal. Sometimes it’s just not safe to enter the public zone when purchasing mass stuff. Things can change quickly here so Harry knows best. As I sat in the taptap I sat mesmerized by all the activity going on. I focused on one vendor for about an hour and saw worlds unfold before me. It really was kinda freaky but it’s nothing I’ve not seen before down here. Life is very fragile here and I think most people can’t accept that, even the ones who have been here for a long time. You cannot come here expecting things in return, this place will eat you up. The bible is very clear that we are not here to build worldly things but to build heavenly things. This world will burn but the things of heaven will remain the eternity.

Anyway, we got our chum and headed for the school/church to start making up the gift bags. When we reached the church Harry had some stuff to tend to so me, Rosena and Adoni made all the gift bags up , 180 in all. When that was accomplished I went out to where the guys are building the wall around the outside property and let my instincts take over. I jumped in and started doing what ever I could do to help. I sifted sand, mixed mortar, toted blocks and helped move their interpretation of scaffolding. I did that for about four hours and loved every minute of it. It ain’t so hard when that’s what you do for a living and anyway those guys really liked the help. After the work was done I bought a round of cokes and that really did make a hit. After all coke is the real thing and a universal satisfaction. It’s the little things like helping your brothers carry the load that really allows us to shed the barriers and build those relationships that are key to anywhere in this world.

Kenny
GMSM

Praise God from whom all blessings flow. As always the days down here tend to start off slow but before too much time passes the snowball effect takes place.

The first stop was the school where I spoke with the teachers and introduced myself to our new fifth grade teacher. I had a brief meeting with Myrva, the school director to catch up and to inquire about the happenings at the school.

Then Harry and I spent many hours talking about the ministry, administration and the progress of the school. He’s a hard cat to pin down so when I get a chance I take full advantage of it. His plate stays overflowing at all times. We had decided that this year we would not do a Christmas party because we wanted to focus on the school finances only. The school to me is a more sufficient way to make a bigger impact. So as a board we thought that with the  finances the ministry has that we may be stretching it a bit and did not want to jeopardize the school funding. Last year we had many donations for the Christmas party but this year we were really wanting the school support so we could get through the year problem free. We are almost there, praise God. I guess sometimes you have to choose your battles.

With that said, several people heard about us not doing the party and they raised the funds for us to do something for the kids. At once my plans had to be adjusted. We decided that we would limit it to the school, a local orphanage and a school up in the mountains that we have close ties to. Whew!! That was a mouth full. So with that newly received news about the funding for Christmas that put in motion what to decide to give and how we will deal with it. I think the word is FLEXIBLE.

The afternoon was spent at the market and working with a lady we know there. She helps us get our goods without the locals jacking up the price on me. That’s pretty cool too because once they see an American the price changes dramatically.

All in all it was a typical day down here with no rest for the weary. There is much activity around the school and church. This country has many faces and you gotta be willing to flow with it. To whoever reads this blog please pray about the school and Christmas party and ask God how He would allow you to help. Thanks to so many people who make this ministry possible from their generous giving. Peace and blessings,
Kenny
GMSM