Mrs. Leger has been a wonderful teacher as she brought Grace up to speed with the rest of the class!

Grace had a real challenge ahead of her when we moved to Haiti – there was no first grade offered at the Missionary School! Thankfully, prior to moving, she tested well enough to be accepted into second grade. It was challenging for her at first, but she is doing very well. She has seven girls and one boy in her class! She loves her teacher, Mrs. Leger! She rides to and from school in a gator with three neighbors, Chloe, Gabby and Faith (Chloe and Gabby’s mom, Mandy, and me in front).

Going to school with friends missionary style!

Grace is finished with school each day at 12:30 to come home in time for lunch. She loves cursive writing, math, Bible time, and especially loves her newest subject, the French language. She has a French teacher who comes into her classroom two times a week. She shares her excitement in learning words, phrases, and songs in French. There is also a neighborhood German Club, once a week, that she really enjoys. Eventually she will also study the Creole language at home from a Haitian teacher (she is already quickly picking up words and phrases from the Haitians we interact with). We wish we had her young brain to absorb as quickly as she does!

Another excitement of her week is her gym class. She chose gymnastics. One of her teachers is Trinity, along with two other young ladies. Grace really loves that gym class! After school, a few times a week, she and her friends make up their own little gymnastics class. She plays every afternoon with many of her school friends either at our home or at theirs (well, we all live close together!).

Since the class has been studying ponds they made a 3D pond scene complete with Mrs. Leger in a longboat!

Here are Grace and Mackenson, one of her buddies, in his tree house. Mackenson is the sweet boy that Tim & Joan Reinhard are adopting and homeschooling. He loves to play with Grace!

In October we had the opportunity to meet both directors of the child sponsorship organizations we will be serving, left to right, Marie Lucie (MEBSH) and Adline and husband Lumenes (HCH). The other two gentlemen are Tim Butikofer and Tom Neuenschwander, AC World Relief directors.

Besides working with the MEBSH child sponsorship office that the Apostolic Christian World Relief organization supports, we will also serve as administrators for a second organization: HCH (Help a Child in Haiti) based in Port-au-Prince. Last October we spent extended time with the HCH director, Adline, her husband Lumenes and their assistant, Joel. We were able to visit seven of their eight southern Haiti rural schools, where their organization currently handles 450 sponsored students! The young lady we sponsor, Mantha, attends one of the HCH schools.

Words cannot express how much these people love the children they help. Adline’s family was very poor and she experienced the blessing and wonder of having her own education sponsored. She related that it was her sponsor who was the the first person to ever tell her that she was loved. She understands the children and the families she serves! Her words: “There are so many opportunities to help. The children have nothing. And many of them just need love and to be told someone loves them. We can do that!”

Adline and Joel questioning a student about her brother’s school attendance. “He doesn’t have any shoes.” (The money was quickly provided for that need!)

At one school Adline was questioning a student why her brother wasn’t coming to school.They were speaking to each other in Creole when suddenly Adline walked away from us. She came back after awhile and apologized for getting emotional. She explained that the student told her that her brother doesn’t have shoes to wear to school. It brought back all the emotions of her youth because she had to share a pair of shoes with her brothers. Parents favor sending their sons to school so she seldom got to go.

Truthfully, when you see rooms full of quiet children neatly dressed in uniforms you don’t immediately register poverty and need. What you see is the result of a sponsor’s giving (or for those not sponsored the money is scraped together by some families or only partially paid when they have to choose between fees or books or food).

If you don’t already sponsor a child’s Christian education, we encourage you to consider what a tremendous blessing that only $30 a month would be to a child and their family. There are children waiting to be sponsored! Go to this link for more information:
http://www.acworldrelief.org/sponsorships/

Waiting in the shade for school to start!

School begins with singing the national anthem and prayer.

This rural school holds high school classes in this structure. Classrooms are separated by tarps.

They pointed out that many students for this school walked five miles over the distant hills to attend!

I love how the light bursts through the doorway of this empty, dimly lit classroom.
It reminds me of Psalm 119:130…”The entrance of Your word gives light.”
Who can put a price on a Christian education in a third world country?

We’ve had a few funny things happen to us and we’ve seen a few unusual things (from a U.S cultural perspective)! We will post more from time to time so you get the idea how learning a new culture can be both humorous and challenging at the same time!

Language and money barriers!

Recently when our friends, Rudy & Polly Zollinger (Smithville, Ohio), were visiting, we went to the “fast food restaurant” in town called Hot Spot. Polly decided she only wanted lettuce on her burger. I tried to stress “lettuce only” to the waitress, but didn’t know the Creole word for only. I did the best I could and it seemed the waitress understood fbecause she nodded her head. When she finally came with our order (an hour later?) she handed Polly a plate with a sad little burger with melted cheese on top sitting in the middle with a tiny pile of fries! No bun, no lettuce…wow! We just burst out laughing after the waitress walked away. It was a good reminder to keep practicing Creole! Often this particular restaurant doesn’t have too many items available. Most of us ordered pizza or burgers, but Rudy ordered fish. The waitress came out and said, “no pizza,” but we thought she said “no pwason” (which is fish…hey, it sounds a lot alike!). So we told her to bring a burger. When she brought out burgers for everyone there was one plate too few. We decided to just share the food and Rudy promptly ate one of the burgers (we had waited an hour remember and we still were thinking “no fish!”). After a while she also shows up with a lovely fish! Well…Rudy ate that too while we all laughed again!

There was another time when the nearly deaf “banana lady” (who comes almost every morning to our door) asked Mike for some money for her ripped basket. He decided to offer her a large Haitian coin which had 50 marked on one side. We had gotten this coin from someone else the day before and we assumed it was 50 Haitian gourdes because it was the size of a U.S. half dollar. Well, she clearly didn’t want that coin! He was surprised how persistent she was in not wanting to take that coin, so he eventually shrugged his shoulders, threw up his hands and went in and slammed the door behind him. No use trying to help some people!? We found out weeks later that that large coin is only half–50%–of one gourde, probably worth a penny! (She still comes!)

The “banana lady” who we see almost every morning! If we don’t buy from her she asks for food or something else…

You know what a siamese twin is right? Have you ever seen a siamese banana? We recently bought one (two?) that were conjoined! Twice as good! Someone deleted the photo I took of it (them?) so I am hoping the banana lady comes up with another one so I can show you!

I’m sure there is a perfectly plausible explanation why this door is hanging upside down! It’s not in our house actually, it’s in the guest house at Bonne Fin. Well, it would drive me perfectly crazy to use that bathroom door every day if it was in my house!

One more…I mentioned earlier that Haitian church services are typically longer than American ones. The kids sit there for a long time! The one church we have been recently attending has quite a few kids that sit up in the front. There are two LSM Homes of Hope at this location which adds to the number of kids dramatically. One time a young girl could not find a bench to squish into and she stood in the aisle for a while. One of the pastors came down from the pulpit to rescue her and let her sit by him on the pulpit! After a while she went to sleep in that big chair! Our kids got quite a kick out of that scene!

To be continued…

Recently I was caught by these words from one of our regular visitors:

“Having a sponsor for my education is like having grace, it is an undeserved gift.”
Evans, 13th year student

Compare this earthly gift of a Christian education to the gift of salvation from God…an offer to be saved eternally by grace through faith…offered freely to all:

“For by grace are you saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God.”
Ephesians 2:8

Thanks for the difference many of you are making one child at a time! We can never underestimate the power of encouragement and the power of love. This young man that I quoted comes by often to talk and has shared that he hopes to also sponsor one or two children when he finishes college and gets a job. He is well aware that not everyone has been given the gift of education that he has been given. Could a life changing earthly gift help open eyes to the greatest gift ever offered? Most definitely! You can tell your sponsored child about Jesus. Because you have demonstrated that you love him/her you now have an open door to share the greatest gift!

Here are some recent favorite photos:

This photo speaks to me of our children’s willingness to serve in Haiti with us. Here Grace is following us into a 2-hour church service which she will get absolutely nothing out of!

Sometimes is is just good to get out of the house to study Creole. Learning a new language as a family is very interesting to say the least!

A Haiti sunset framing a fishing scene right out of the Bible!

From the rising of the sun to the going down of the same the name of the Lord is to be praised! Sending love and prayers from our home to yours…

I had no idea before I moved to Haiti how much Construction work teams would change my life.

by Grant

I have been helping out in the MEBSH Construction Department as much as possible since we moved here. I also have language lessons some afternoons. I basically do whatever they tell me to do. They know how to keep me busy! I really enjoy helping out and learning so many new skills. I plan to also help out my parents with Child Sponsorship work in the future.

Making new friends and talking with Haitians are definitely the best part of going on teams

Work Teams

So far I have gone out on two work teams as well as two 1-day teams. I will leave to go on another one this Friday. I really like going and I sure learn all sorts of things from the guys that go. They give me spiritual advice as well as practical. Teams of men and women come from different churches and states. We work together to put tin roofs on churches and schools, as well as make the church benches and school desks. For sure you have to get really good at hammering nails because we do so much of it! I’ve sanded and varnished church benches and helped put together school desks. I help assemble the roof trusses and then raise them up with the help of multiple other guys. I help with putting the tar paper and tin on top of the roof once all the trusses are in place.

Loading the trucks to leave early the next morning!

Many rugged miles are covered to reach the remote villages.

Preplanning and teamwork gets a lot accomplished pretty quickly!

BEFORE — The village is responsible for building the walls and having things ready before our arrival.

AFTER — Worshipping with a thankful church under their new roof and seated on their new benches!

Some churches have waited up to seven years for this day!

When we are caught up I try to talk to the Haitians that are watching. I can make small talk with them but that’s about it so far. The best way to learn the language is to have them teach you. I bring my Creole lessons out and they help me go over them. I have found that Haitians are very friendly and are glad to help me. That way they also get a chance to learn English!  Although going on work teams means less Creole lessons, I think I am actually learning more this way as I feel more confident and more motivated to study and learn!

We have devotions together every night as a team and it’s interesting to hear what people have to say. On Sunday we go to a Haitian church and worship with them there. How they thank and worship God is incredible to see! The singing sounds so good and Tim translates for us during the sermon. We always have to stand up and introduce ourselves to the church. After the service we go to the homes of the poor to sing, pray, give gifts and encourage whoever lives there. the people we visit are usually widows, old people, sick or very poor. This is always very eye-opening for me.

The Haitian cooks prepare us their best food and the meals are usually very good. There is typically a lot of rice and beans served, goat, beets, plantains, bread ( we bring  peanut butter, jelly and cheese), papaya, bananas, coffee and soda. They make us three meals a day with lunch being the biggest one. I do like the food!

The past two work teams we drove to the Jeremie area on the north coast, and we will be returning there on the next one. I heard that in the States this drive would only be an hour. It takes us anywhere from six to ten hours depending on road construction. In one spot we have to wait for 15 minutes to three hours, and there can be multiple stops along the way. I always make sure to bring something to do and food to eat. These stops are usually good opportunities to talk to more Haitians.

On the last work team we were crossing a bridge on the way that had a hole in it and both of the back tires went in! I was riding on top and suddenly the entire truck started tipping and then stopped! Tim used a jack to take the pressure off the tires and stacked boards underneath, then put on the gas and we were out! All of this happened in about 10 minutes and was awesome to see!

The view from under the bridge showing our tires lodged in the hole!

The truck blocking the bridge as we all got off to help.

At that work team location the people were so thankful for answered prayer. After seven years of waiting they finally had a roof on their church! To see and be a part of all this is truly amazing! Do you think you would like to join us on a work team soon?

We are serving through Apostolic Christian World Relief based in Illinois. But AC World Relief also operates under MEBSH, which is an acronym for Mission Evangélique Baptiste du Sud-Haiti (Evangelical Baptist Mission of South Haiti). MEBSH has been around a long time and has made significant progress in Christian training, education and healthcare across South Haiti. MEBSH grew out of the successful efforts of the non-denominational World Team, the Cuba Bible Institute and deported Haitian sugarcane workers from Cuba who returned to share the gospel.

It is amazing to see how much ground this organization covers! Currently MEBSH operates this impressive list:

1. 488 local churches.
2. 413 primary and secondary schools.
3. 4 professional centers.
4. 1 school training teachers.
5. 1 university with 3 facilities: medicine, nursing, and engineering.
6. 30 institutions with various goals, including a hospital (Hospital Lumiere), an outpatient clinic, a dental clinic, a radio station, a women’s domestic training center, a youth camp, orphanages, and our construction department and child sponsorship program.

A typical MEBSH church. This one happens to be called the Bamboo church!

MEBSH truly affects our lives here. Our family attends a local MEBSH church on Sunday morning and a missionary Bible study on Wed. night. There is an English service planned once a month that alternates between Les Cayes and Hospital Lumiere. When work teams are here in the winter we get together more often. Many of the local missionaries attend these services and we appreciate the fellowship and shared meals.

Grace is now in the 2nd grade where she joins a class of seven girls and one boy at the missionary school!

Visiting the nearby Simon orphanage, operated under MEBSH.

Mya is two and came to the orphanage right before Christmas weighing just six pounds. She had been left at the Les Cayes Hospital. Now she is at 13 pounds a month later and is very happy and smiles a lot!

We have been here a month and were very thankful to see the sea container with our food and household things pull into the yard last Saturday! It is an exciting event to see what has arrived and it seems like everyone shows up to watch and help with the unloading.

We have started language training and are really being challenged with this. But we are anxious to be able to converse more with the Haitians we come into contact with daily. We are enjoying new friendships even though we can’t always say too much yet!

Evan returned to Ohio a week ago after spending his holiday break from college with us. He can now picture where we are and what we are up to, and where home is now! We really miss him! Grant has been working with the construction department and going out with the work teams as much as possible. (He will be sharing some of that in the next post!) Trinity continues with her home schooling program and both Trinity and Grant are also in language training. Grace has been attending her new missionary school for two weeks now. She really loves it!

This plant is growing right out of the wall near our back door. I notice it every day. I was so surprised when I first saw it! There is only a hairline crack where it emerges so I’m not sure if it grew from the back of the wall or if a seed lodged in that small crack. However it got there, it speaks loudly to me:

Just bloom where you are planted! With God all things are possible.

Happy 2014 from the Walders!

Thanks so much for your prayers. They are making a difference! For example, we were recently enjoying a beautiful day at the beach with other missionaries when six of us found ourselves caught in a rip tide! Mike, Susie and Trinity were able to struggle out of it, but Evan, Mandy Yordy and Moy (a Haitian friend) were swept out farther. God supplied Evan with a surf board right at that time because it quickly became obvious that Moy couldn’t swim and that surf board became a lifesaver! We could ony watch and pray until they were finally able to break loose of the pull and come in. We thank God for His protection and we thank you for your prayers for our continued safety!

May God bless you with a wonderful New Year!

Madam Yadley is really a bright spot in our day!

1) We met our Haitian cook (Madam Yadley) who calls me Madam Mike. That is going to take awhile to get used to! She cooks lunch for us four times a week for extra money. It is expected here to provide jobs for the Haitians. Otherwise, you would be looked down upon from the start. We get along really well and had some good laughs already! She eats lunch with us. She knows a little English and we know so little Creole, so our conversations are not too long yet.

2) Star gazing on a hill surrounded by mountains and cows, singing hymns, and getting to know one another better. (We got such a kick out of a cow who started bellowing when we sang!)

3) Tarantula hunting – the kids found some big ones!! Mom screamed when they brought one back and it came towards her. : )

4) Going  downtown to transfer our US dollars to Haitian Goudes and to the market for some groceries (not like Walmart!) Sure is a different world with all the crowds of people everywhere! It is very unfamiliar ground and out of our comfort zone, especially when you don’t know the language. The driving is always chaotic, dangerous, and the sights eye opening!

5)  Four-wheeling is how you get around on short trips! We will all be driving those soon to get around (except for Grace I guess).

6) Taking time out to play basketball and volleyball with the missionaries.

The water was diverted so no falls to see…but more climbing was possible.

7) Hiking up the mountains (Rock climbing is more like it). The kids enjoyed swimming in a natural spring and jumping in. The water was such a clear blue that you could see your toes when you looked down! It is so neat to see the world God created – especially one that is new to us.

8) MEBSH (Mission Evangelical Baptist South Haiti) church – First time for kids to experience church the Haitian way. It was so amazing for the kids to see them sing and praise Jesus with their whole hearts while they have nothing! They sang so loud into the microphone we almost had to cover our ears!

9) Beach at Port Salut (45 minutes west of Les Cayes) to enjoy a relaxing Sunday afternoon and some seafood on the Caribbean Sea with the missionaries.

10) Christmas Eve Outreach – On Christmas Eve, we went with Tim and Joan Reinhard on their annual outreach with the street boys. Wow! What an eye opening event that day! We picked up the kids on the street that Joan had on the list. There was 38 boys. The names were picked by a street mom who supposedly takes care of these kids, since she had been a street kid herself. Each one of these kids had to have their finger spray painted so they wouldn’t have any tag-a-longs and would better be able to keep track of them. There were so many street kids that wanted to go along but only the ones on the list were able. It was a sight to see! Both Tim and Joan were surrounded by many, many kids while we all waited in the vehicles.

We could never figure out how they found the match!

Having shoes in Haiti is like having a good set of tires on a car. Obviously Haitians mostly get around by walking and do make first impressions (measure each other) by what kind of shoes they have on. So these shoes were a gift that these boys appreciated!

These boys love “Mr. Tim!”

The sandwich pile kept getting bigger…and so did quite a few eyes!