In Less Than 24 Hours...

I never really knew what Culture Shock was, I mean, I had an idea, but in all the trips I have been on, I can't say that I have really EXPERIENCED it.  And I didn't think that I would this time either, as I was looking forward so much to friends and family and Canadian norms.  I suppose the shock that I feel comes out in almost a stunned, I don't believe this is real, sort of way.

Things which have been different:

1. Remembering to turn on the hot water to wash my hands… I have failed in this area a number of times so far.
2. Almost forgetting to flush toilet paper.  This is a conscious effort.
3. Feeling the heat on my head as I washed my hair.  This is an amazing feeling!
4. Realizing for the first time that Edmonton has soft water as my hair actually felt silky!
5. Preparing myself for the crazy Christmas traffic, but actually thinking that there doesn't seem to be anyone around.
6. Waking up this morning thinking I was in Haiti, but seeing a bookshelf a knowing I must be somewhere else.
7. Using a blowdryer
8. Using high-speed internet
9. Remembering to say "Hi" "Yes" "Good--bye" "Thank-you", instead of "Bonjour" "Au Revoir " "Oui" "Merci"
10. Enjoying good coffee

Although these differences are mostly luxuries…. we do miss our new family back in Haiti.  The Number 1 luxury that we have experienced thus far is the ability to see, spend time with, and speak to our friends and family here.  We love and cherish all the people who are a part of our lives.  No matter where we are, we will always keep you close to our hearts.

Christmas Update

     At the outset of our mission to Haiti, time seemed to stand still somedays. All our experiences could be drawn out each day, thoroughly enjoyed and reflected upon. As time draws to a close, we feel speed picking up again, trying to wrap up all the work we have attempted to accomplish, while carefully balancing the great need to nurture relationships with those we will leave behind. No one ever promised Haiti would be easy and we can see how people proclaim this country to be one of the tougher mission fields. We are satisfied that we answered God’s call, a great stirring in our hearts, and

we have felt the eternal blessings gained from serving His people. Haiti has been a wonderful place for us as a means of growth, sacrifice and inner-peace. Early each morning, we rise with the sun and commit personal time to prayer, bible reading and journalling. God placed us here to take this time seriously and we have been richly blessed through what He reveals to our hearts each day. Our faith has been strengthened by seeing people healed through our prayer and compassion. God has called us to live beyond the confines of “our” time and to serve openly and selflessly within the community, where it is not always the clock that matters, but precious moments. As a young couple used to spending ample time with just each other, we had some reservations being thrust into a community environment. Mysteriously, we have had abundant time to grow together, as we live and work among God’s people, even though date nights don’t exist. "Just us" time is" just everyone else" time. Truly there has been a valuable lesson to learn in all this. We will continue to let our hearts proclaim this attitude of service and community and experience rich growth in our marriage.

     During the past 4 months we have been serving with Haiti Outreach Ministries (HOM). Jeremy has been teaching English to the grade 1-6 students, primarily at Blanchard School, but also a few days a week at Cite Soleil School. Each afternoon he has offered adult English classes, which have been a conversation enriching time for all the students. By furthering their English study, they will have an increased chance at finding employment in a country where the unemployment rate is at a staggering 70%.

     Stacey is the school nurse for both Blanchard and Cite Soleil School. She has been shadowed by a local nurse with the expectation that this lady will take over independently after Stacey leaves. The students have been cared for extensively, parents have been educated on how to better look after their children’s basic needs, and many problems with personal care have been rid of. Very importantly, there is now an in-depth documentation process for tracking students medical records for years to come!

     The children have been the highlight of our trip and it has been a joy to work with them. Every day they make us laugh, think, and sometimes shake our heads with their wild and energetic behavior. They really are an intense bunch! Leaving them after several months of such close contact will be very hard, especially when we don’t know if we will see them again. God has placed them under our care and direction for a time and it would be a blessing to be with them again if He wills it. We love them so much and we feel like they are a part of our family. 

     Our mission to Haiti has met some challenging points, but nothing that we complain

about here compares with the with the everyday struggles of those in poverty. We don’t live in Cite Soleil, but we live as close as you can get. People in leadership here have been robbed, many people distrust their fellow neighbor, and even we as foreigners are taught to live in fear. However, never once have we been worried about our safety, and through it all we have kept our mission at the forefront of our minds. We know without a doubt that we are his servants and that his people are our people. God is so, so good!

The Future:

     As we look ahead to traveling through Australia and serving once again in Asia, we are

hopeful that God’s good plan for us will continue to unravel. In Indonesia, Malaysia and

Thailand, we have a handful of contacts who are going to lead us through their ministries. We will be exposed to street ministry, orphan care, AIDS initiatives and church activities. We have been strongly encouraged to consider Asia as a long term assignment and it will be interesting to see how God focuses this time. Thank you to everyone who has created these divine appointments for us.

     We will arrive in Cambodia in mid-March and work at Place of Rescue, an AIDS

orphanage, for 3 months. Here we will be part of a community of children diagnosed with AIDS, and destitute grandmothers, who have been left without family due to AIDS. Our primary purpose here will be to teach English, but we already know God has much, much more in mind.

     Thank you for your support of our mission. It has been encouraging to receive financial

support, prayers, emails, Facebook messages, Skype calls and even a package! The blessings that these gifts bring enable us to keep pressing on, knowing that we have the strong covering of believers back home. Any financial gifts for travel are funneled through ACOP, of which almost half has been covered. Donations towards living expenses in Cambodia can be made through Place of Rescue. All expenses are strictly missions related.

Please continue to pray. Stacey has battled some minor health problems and we both desire to give with compassion, patience and generosity as we serve. This will demand our best, our all.

Much love to everyone, Jeremy and Stacey

Donations can be made to:

ACOP (www.acop.ca)

#119 - 2340 Pegasus Way NE

Calgary AB. T2E 8M5

(403) 273-5777

Place Of Rescue Foundation

Box 27096, RPO Tuscany

Calgary, AB T3L 2Y1

(403) 973-5470

The Change of Heart

       The last few weeks I have come to realize that Haiti has somehow entangled it's way into my heart.  Within a few weeks of getting here, I had said in a moment of frustration, "I could never live here!"  I don't know if this statement is still true…..   Surprisingly, the longer you live in a place, the more of your life it becomes.  The smells of garbage, smoke, and urine that once haunted me, I seldom think twice about…and sometimes don't even notice.  I have definitely grown accustomed to the sight of garbage and animals everywhere, as well as the random naked body.  I have come to love the people.  I look at the faces of the children and my heart fills with joy and compassion.  It will be heart-wrenching to say good-bye.

       Living within the community in which we work has enabled us to learn the dark secrets of Cite Soleil, deepen our understanding of Voodoo, and expose us to the common superstitions that possess the people who live here.  We have had our hearts broken, as children have revealed their hunger pains to us.  We have learned that much suffering is covered with a smile.  We have gotten over our frustration of our over-protective Haitian friends, as no Haitian trusts another, taught from an early age to look out only for oneself.

       This Haitian experience has changed the hearts of both Jeremy and I in so many ways.  As we look towards the future of new cultures yet to come, I cannot fathom how much more change there will be.  I anticipate each place will bring it's own challenges and growing pains; but, we have seen how much strength and wisdom comes out of those experiences.  I have prayed, and continue to pray that I will be filled with patience and joy, and that I would not look past hidden cultural treasures.  I have learned to slow down and take in the things around me (as anyone who really knows me knows that I do not notice anything. This is due to the distractions and schedules that are always in my mind).

       As I have risen with the sun, and watched the magnificent colours of each day, I have realized that each day brings with it another chance: a chance to allow someone to bring joy to your life, a chance to make a difference in another's life.  There is always opportunity.  Where ever there is another person there is a chance to impact that person's day or even life.  The purpose of life is to LOVE; however our schedules eat up all our energy and time that often we are consumed by frustration, worry, anxiety, and loneliness instead.

       Before leaving for Haiti, we had a number of people say, "I wish I could do something like that".  You can.  You don't have to hop on a plane to do it though.  Just cross the street and help your elderly neighbour with her snow; go downtown and help the homeless man sitting outside Starbucks; stop and change that lady's tire for her, even though it will make you late.
     
       These are small gifts of love you can give to someone, often for free and with little sacrifice.  I challenge my friends and family to take this step.

The Impatient Goodbye (or My Here and Now)

When Stacey and I departed for Haiti, it was easy to see the lure with which it drew us in.  We vocalized our intentions to people, felt restless stirrings in our hearts and deliberately planned to set apart time for it to happen, so it would indeed happen.  I can pinpoint the time in which I grew impatient to leave, right around the time of our arrival back from our mission in Cancun with Millwoods Christian School.  It killed me to be back, some days I exhausted myself wondering if I would ever be able to live until God put us back in the international mission field.  

Flash forward about 9 months or so and I feel a similar pull the other way, generating pangs of impatience and conflicting emotions.  I am excited to see friends and family, after all its been a long time, the most substantial time we’ve ever spent away from home.  There is a steely hold that firms its grip around time’s throat when the hours are ticking away though.  I felt it last February and I feel it now.  A multitude of events await us, beckoning for our attention.  How are we to faithfully live out the rest of the here and now that Haiti has to offer, while Canada clamors for our attention?

Though nobly I might seek to justify my impatience in February as deep heart murmurings and a supreme groaning in my Spirit, I never needed to dwell on those longings in the anxious way that I did.  I knew as a result of prayer and commitment that these desires would come to fruition once more.  Still, I became uptight and agitated, trying to balance my plans with God’s unbudging side of the scale.  I had a classroom full of eager students, thrilled to be joined with their captain once more, though I acted more as if the ship was sinking than as if I’d just discovered dry land.  A time for rejoicing and much good witness gave way to forlornness and anxiety.   

To be frank, “leaving” always kind of freaks me out.  I desire a Christmas at home with family, but it is hard to leave this island which most times definitely feels like our home.  I want to see my friends and enjoy our goofy Canadian activities, but I want to make it clear to these people that we will miss them dearly and that are not abandoning them!  No one can deny that going back is hard and maybe after first couple trips, the real culture shock is experienced inversely, when you return to the glut of North America.

So here’s my problem and I am sure that others can relate.  Whether I live in Haiti or Canada, Australia or Asia, there is man’s time and there is God’s time.  One of them spells death, the other is yearning for salvation to happen.  One of them confines us, the other implores us to let it be.  Unless I daily discipline myself to be patient and enjoy absolutely everything, whether big or small, dull or interesting, long or short, English or Creole, I will miss out, maybe even find myself adding up the ill-used hours at the end of life, filled with regret that I couldn’t enjoy the present.  Or, I find it, realizing that life goes on, no matter how we box it up, into a place with no beginning and no end, just the here and now, just where God asks us to be.