Big Plans for Weekend

Activity and big plans are brewing this weekend for HATS. Plans are, by the end of the weekend, to have the girls moved into their new home;

Beautiful finished Girl's Home

To have the boys all spread out in theirs;

Boy's Home Bottom Level

To have our house completed and the move-in process begun.

Seth and Jessie's house second level

But 'This is Haiti' as Karen says a lot. We will see!!! There is lots, lots, lots of work to be done. And from the sounds I am hearing now (banging hammers and directions being given), it sounds as things are going well. Like usual, things have been busy around here!

Lets start with the last couple of days. Thursday was a whirlwind. Seth did some plumbing in the morning and we practiced our Creole lesson, as Karen taught English classes at the school. That afternoon the school boys had a soccer game. This was quite the experience for Seth and I. First of all because Seth is a soccer fanatic. He loves to play and anytime we are at a game, I can tell he longs to play. Second, Seth, Karen, and I were the only blans (White people) in a sea of about 500 Haitians. Now this isn't a special thing, it always happens. However, it is very interesting when the children have not seen white people very often. Throughout the whole game, the three of us had at least 30 people starring at us. The children were even more precious. I am use to having children hanging on me, but at one time during the game I had about 8 children touching me. They would move in slow and just stare, Next, they would touch with one finger to get your attention. Then, if you smiled at them, they were in. They would grab your hand so fast and would examine your arms and clothing. It was a blast. At the end of the soccer game, the HATS gang was wiped. Karen from the day of work, the children from the fun and games, Seth from soccer watching, and me from the hanging children. :)

Waiting for our school's soccer match to begin

Sidelines cheering for HATS school team

I feel like I keep saying, `Well, that was an experience.` And yes, the soccer game was quite the time, however, nothing so far tops what we experienced on Friday. The children had a holiday from school since is has been Carnival (Mardi Gras) down here. They were suppose to be off Monday-Wednesday. However, none of the other Haitian schools had school Thursday or Friday. HATS school operated but due to lack of children and teachers, they were let out early both days after their meal. This was a great thing for Karen, Seth, and I. Since Karen did not have to teach English in the morning, we were able to take off for Saint Marc to get much needed supplies for the orphanage and our new house! Upon arriving in Saint Marc, we were breathless due to the beauty of the ocean in one second and literally breathless due to the trash-filled drainage canal for water in another. Our first task was to find cutlery and dishes for the house. Now this would be a simple task in United states. You just drive to Wal-mart and pick out of the twenty choices which one you want. It is a tad different here. Let me just tell you the difficulties. You have to drive amongst a sea of mad drivers and try not to bump your head on the ceiling of the truck at every speed ``bump``, find parking in close spaces or on top of sidewalks, search through several dusty stores to find just one set of spoons or dishes, trudge through a packed market space with people begging you to buy things, and then try to keep up to Karen who wanted to get away from the meat section of the market, look through numerous items trying to find what the product is first and then how much it is in goudes, then Haitian dollars, and then US dollars. But, all-in-all, WE LOVED IT and can`t wait to go back! (Karen here. Sorry I forgot my camera for the St. Marc experience. Next time!)

When we got back from the market, work for the weekend started underway. Seth, Luckner, and 4 other men worked on the plumbing.

Seth and Luckner working on bathroom plumbing

Ti Luc watching Gwo Luc working on plumbing to Seth & Jessie's place

Finishing up plumbing to kitchen

I started to finish up on the painting in our house. Some wonderful nice woman (Karen Huxter), or so I thought, brought us all cold sodas for our hard work. However, she forgot to tell us that as she brought them over from the house that she accidentally?? shook them. So, when we all opened them they exploded all over us. We will get you back my lady! Work went late on Friday night and when we came in to rest, we found a surprise in the bathroom.

Jessie finishing up painting of their house

There was a krapo, meaning frog in Creole, in the room. Seth had to catch it and take it outside. During this time, Moise and Ti Luc were sitting in the living room as Seth brought it out and they instantly got terrified. Seth let the krapo go outside and brought in a new one that had been sitting outside for several nights. This was one of the biggest toads I had ever seen. You should have seen their faces then. J J walked in right when the toad was being put down and he was out the door in a second. We all had a good laugh.

Seth with his new friend - a toad

This morning, Seth and I woke up to the machine gun generator/rice mill. For those who have been here before, they will understand. However, for those of you who have not, I will explain. There are many type of generator sounds in Haiti. Some sound like tractors, other lawn mowers, other just a hum or buzz. But the neighbors next to the facility has quite the noise maker, which is the winner. His is the most inconsistent, loud, annoying machine that sounds like a machine gun going off. The first time Seth heard it he ducked because that's what he thought it was. Anyways, waking up to that on a Saturday morning brings us lots of joy (NOT). :)

But, our mood was soon fixed, as we came down the stairs, Ti Luc was returning from the children's home. He had just given Karena and Jofky his old moto (bicycle) and they were ecstatic. Seth and I were truly filled with joy this morning!

Happy Jofky on the bike from Ti Luc

Jofky - I don't want to get off and give Karena a turn

Jofky happy now - it is his turn again

Good Friends (Ti Luc and Leica) watching Jofky & Karena

I probably should get out of the office and head down to the house. The boys are working away and the paint is calling my name, as well as the children!

Mwen rele Jessie

Well, where do I even begin? Mwen rele Jessie. :) (My name is Jessie) This is my first complete Creole sentence!

Wow, what a wonderful, wonderful place to dive in. Let me update you first for those of you who don't know a lot about Seth and I.

Jessie and Karena

My husband, Seth, and I are the ones from Illinois, not Texas, that have come to help Karen for a year. We had originally planned to teach overseas and leave next August for the job. However, when we started to search for such a job, we ran across HATS ad on our college's website and praise God that we did!! We contacted Karen in the middle of December and after several e-mails and phone calls we decided to come visit. We were suppose to come for a week in January to check it out. My passport didn't come, so plans fell through. Karen contacted us later that week to ask if we would come for a whole year instead. We had been praying about a week and had a peace about that, but a WHOLE year! We finally decided in the middle of January to come and here we are a month and a half later. Thank God we are! We have had such a peace through the whole process and now we fit right in at home.

You`ve heard about what we`ve done the past few days, most of it being truth. :) So, I will pick up on Monday night. The group said good bye to the children and came in for our last devotion time together. This was such an encouraging and sad time for Seth and I. We had really become family with the Texas group. They made our transition so easy and we bonded really well. Thank you Texas group for your hospitality and friendship. To end Monday night, the group discussed their week and what they had learned. We also laughed at the difference of the two experiences, (the one group at HATS and the other group at a different mission) but ultimately just praising God for the things and people we experienced this week. The group prayed over Seth, Karen, and I for next years work, our unity, Seth and I's marriage, and the children's growth. What an encouragement you all were to us! Thank you again.

Waiting for bus early a.m.

Tuesday morning the group was up by 3:30 am. They were suppose to be off by 4:30, but as we all know in Haiti things don't always go as planned. The bus was right on "Haitian" time and Brooks (the young man who did the illusionist show the previous afternoon) proceeded to try an illusion before getting on the bus. Both set back the group just a bit. The first resulted in the bus showing up around 5:00 and the second resulted in Brooks landing in a muddy creek (don`t tell him that it was actually a filthy, nasty, dirty, polluted, disgusting, sewage infested canal). He had to go up and get a quick shower before they took off to Port au Prince. Brooks, I hope you got the first class you wanted on the way back just so no one in the group had to sit next to you!

Brooks ( front) who in the dark fell into the dirty, stinky, contaminated ditch while moving out of the way of the bus

Seth and I got to get up that morning with Ti Luckner. Man, I know you guys have heard a ton about him`, but he is everything they say he is! He is gorgeous, wonderful, handsome, and so, so intelligent. Seth and I have come to learn he loves to be tickled, to see his Papa and Mama, and most of all he loves his mamba= peanut butter. (not his mambo, which I accidentally said and got laughed at by Ti Luckner and his Mama because that means a Voodoo Priestess in Creole and they both did not want one of those with their bread) We got to dress him, feed him, and most importantly laugh at cartoons with him.

Seth and Jesie with Ti Luc

The rest of the day involved planting grass seed, watering the yard, and playing with the beautiful children. Man, what a good day of rest for Seth and I after the "leader" of the Texas team worked us to death. :) But, truly, God has blessed this place and our lives by putting us here! These children, Karen, and this mission bring such joy to us.

In the evening, Seth, Karen, Ti Luc, and I went to visit Luckner's home, business, trade school, and everything else he has there. That man has quite the brain! We sat and visited and just relaxed as the sun went down. Did I mention it is 85 degrees here almost everyday, so you have to really embrace the cool breeze in the evening.

Wednesday started off with devotion time with the children and the staff. I like this time a lot now, but I am really going to love having this time in the morning, as soon as I learn the words and meanings to the worship songs! :) Karen went over to the school in the morning to help three girls from the school prepare a meal for the soccer boys. The boys had practice in the morning and the girls always make lunch for them to eat before they go home. Karen helped the girls round up the supplies needed.

Meal cooked by 3 grade 7 girls for HATS hungry soccer team

As Karen did this, Seth added some more purple to the boys home and I packed up the mattresses, sheets, pillows, and tents from the Texas team.

Seth putting the finishing touches of purple on the house

Jessie dismantling the workteam village

After lunch, we went over to the school and had the best, I mean absolute best Creole teacher, Luckner. We spent a little under an hour in the classroom at the school, just the 4 of us, practicing and learning Creole. I also learned a little Canadian English. They do not have a Z (eee) . I don't know if they know this or not, but it is a pretty important letter (I guess they all say "EH!" too and we don't get on them about that).

First Creole lesson for Seth and Jessie

The afternoon finished up with chasing down plumbing parts, fixing water lines, and playing with the children.

Very wet Vladimy & Seth fixing a plumbing problem

I have a couple of things for the Texas group.

1. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you for the bag of M and M's. Seth and I believe we have enough for one everyday and after Sunday lunch! :) Totaling 832. We will let you know if our prediction is correct as soon as we count them.

2. David was a bit untruthful about the bluebell ice cream and Sonic, however, I just want to state officially who Karen must like better. The day the Texas group left, the exact same day!, she brought cookies and cream ice cream from St. Marc on their return from Port au Prince. She claims it is a rarity to find so she had to buy it, but we all know the real truth! I will say proudly that tonight we will be having ice cream! And if you don`t believe me I say to you come down and see for yourself!

Proof for the Texas team

Well, time to wrap it up. Seth is currently outside playing with the children and practicing soccer with Vladimy and my heart longs to be there! Goodbye for now!

Seth, Vladimy & Moise playing soccer

Comfort House Update

Well, at long last here is that Comfort House update from me, Brooks Boyett, that you were long ago promised by my pampered friend David. Oh how I wished I was here last night to provide an update, but it was not to be. We spent the last several days living the life of luxury in the brand new, still very-much-in-development Comfort House compound in Lachappelle. We stayed in a small bungalow, had a bit of running water and the occasional power of an electric generator. We slept to the sounds of voodoo drums (at least the first night), the crowing of roosters, the braying of the Comfort's two burros Lucy and Patrick, and the snoring of the Huckabays. We had an incredible adventure.

The Comfort House is home to 13 beautiful children. 12 were born HIV Positive, several have developed AIDS, a few are no longer HIV positive. All were abandoned and given up on. All are precious and healthy and full of life and energy. We spent the weekend helping Ray and Trisha move their crazy family from their house in Verrettes to the new digs. There were many, many items to move. Nolan and Jerry made many trips up and down the well paved, smooth, uncongested road. The rest of us did whatever we were told - carrying stuff, moving things, hammering, cooking, playing, changing diapers, and whatever else. More than anything, though, we were able to pour the love of Jesus into this little family.

Things were quite chaotic, as you might imagine. Saturday night, we put all the kids to bed in their new homes all by ourselves, as Ray and Trisha were in the old place packing up. This was quite stressful and unforeseen, and full of laughs. We may or may not have used duct tape on diapers, as most everything for the kids was packed up somewhere. But we survived it and are all the tougher for it. Our ladies, Jennifer, Paige, and Lori, were incredible troopers. No toilets and a simple faucet for washing made for tough conditions, but they survived. Soon, the Comfort compound will have a bathing station and toilets, so next year will be a bit easier.

It was a very difficult weekend but a complete and total blast. We got nearly everything moved and were able to have a great worship service with the family, spend time in prayer for each child, pray with Ray and Trisha and their workers, and be as big a blessing as we could be. Each of us was touched forever by the joy these kids brought us. And I can't wait to be back next year to play with my new friends Rosy, William, Christian, Darlensky, Lulu, Nadia, Gessica, Roodline, Elda, Mason, Babo, Womise, and Marissa (whose names I don't think I spelled correctly). Please pray for this sweet family and for a smooth transition for Ray and Trisha and peace to fill their new home. I'd load some pictures, but they're on my phone and I am very exhausted.

PS. The HATS orphanage is absolutely wonderful. I got to do a few magic tricks for the kids here. It's such a peaceful, joyous place. I may or may not be jealous of my pal David and his life of running water, toilets and imaginary Blue Bell Ice Cream. However, they didn't get to eat Ray Comfort Homemade Pizza, which is absolutely amazingly delicious. If you want to see some pics of our fun, visit www.mission2540.wordpress.org later on this week.

The Lord is greatly to be praised!

As we close out our last night in Haiti, I am overwhelmed with the faithfulness and favor of the Lord. His divine sovereignty was evident throughout this trip.

One of the evidences of His timing was the opportunity to join Seth and Jessie Huber for their first days in the field. Last year as we worked on the electrical service for the Huber mansion, I vividly remember considering who is it that the Lord would call to inhabit this place. Since my first trip here, I've considered that it sure would be nice for Karen to have someone(s) to come along side her and labor with her. Not from the thought that things are not getting done because Karen can get it done (see the go, go, go comment from the Day One post). But simply from the fact that there are so many things that need to be done.

Seth, Jessie & Ti Luc

Praise be to the Lord for He called Seth and Jessie to HATS. What a dynamic and impressive young couple. As we have shared and painted walls the last few days it has become ever so clear how the hearts the Lord has placed in them and the skill sets He has provided to them will be poured out for His glory at HATS.

Painting by work team and cement work by construction workers

From dull gray to vibrant colours

To think of the measure of faith one would have to leave the comforts of home and move to a country sight unseen to care for little ones you have never met is humbling to consider. Yet, as they have ministered here the last few days to me they have never looked so much at home. Allow me to say to Jim and Connie Harling and Stan and Cindy Huber you have raised two wonderful children. "Children are a heritage from the Lord, offspring a reward from Him." Psalm 127:3. Congratulations Harlings and Hubers - you have a fine heritage.

Karena braiding Joanna's hair

Moise helping

Sisters, Brittanie, Joanna and Maddie with sisters and brother, Leica, Karma & Ti Luc

Our time here, as usual, has been: fun-filled, productive, encouraging, a retreat, hot, a blessing and too short.

Illusionist entertainment by Brooks

Pray for Karen as she continues to lead at HATS. Pray for continued strength and discernment as she seeks to lead out in the way the Lord would direct.

Pray for Luckner as he works with Karen and provides wisdom and insight for her and the team here.

Pray for Seth and Jessie. Pray for their continued transition to Haitian culture and for the mission that they will carry out here.

Thank you Lord for the fellowship of believers on a rooftop under a Haitian starlight sky.

Thank you Lord for the precious children of HATS. Continue to provide and care for them and to call them to your purposes.

Thank you Lord for the host of families that carried extra duties at home that allowed us to be here.

Thank you for the prayers that were carried to our Father on behalf of this team and this time.

Praise the Lord for He is wonderful and greatly to be praised!

Til next time -

David

Sunday in Haiti

What a way to start the day - worshipping the Lord in Haiti!

We had a glorious service led in singing by Antoinette and then I shared a word from Philippians 4:4-5 about rejoicing in the Lord and showing gentleness.

Jofky & Karena playing tambourine's in church

Group singing in church

I certainly enjoy the spirit in which we worship in Haiti.

After a wonderful lunch prepared by Marta and Germaine, we were back at it with paint brushes and rollers in hand. We have dined like royalty this trip - Marta and Germaine are the best!

At the end of the day, Superintendent Seth informed us that we were 85.47% finished with the first floor and 42.93% complete with the second floor. Our goal for tomorrow is to complete the second floor so we can return the scaffolding to the rental company.

Brittanie and Garrett

Joanna, Jessie, David and Garrett

I have to say this is one hard working team. All of them are busy about their task and the paint is going on the wall. We also have lots of help from the HATS children which it is great to see them invest in their homes. Vladimy was a tremendous help today.

Vladimy, David & Maddie

Joanna, Seth, Vladimy & David

We also found a new cut-in artist - Maddie, oh I mean Madeline, can cut with the brush. So much so that there will be an early morning contest on the west side windows to once and for all determine who is the greatest cut-in artist on the HATS compound - Seth or Madeline. May the steadiest brush win.

Seth and Maddie. Who is the best cut-in artist

A few bits of information and trivia from the day:

We officially dedicated the Huber Mansion with a little Canadian flare - EH!

Canada - Eh!

Beautiful finished Girl's Home

Joanna and Madeline's dad used to say to them (and dare I say show them)  - "math hurts".

Seth was once featured on the ESPN program "Between the Lines" over a controversial decision by the Illinois State Board of Education not to let home-school children play in the public school soccer league. Not to be deterred though, Seth went onto dominate the Central Illinois Club soccer league by averaging 1.007 goals per game.

Jessie has never painted the color purple before and contrary to popular belief Jessie's favorite 80's song is not "Purple Rain".

G spent the evening on the canal offering Creole lessons to Haitians. G would tell them "bon jou" is good morning and "bon swa" is good evening.

The list of those brave enough to walk the scaffolding included: Seth, Jessie, Madeline, Joanna, Brittanie and David... the one hugging the wall returning to the ladder would be G. It was a funny looking embrace though.

The entire team currently serving at the Comfort House will now be returning to HATS at noon tomorrow. Jerry's only request was that the showers be cleared upon their arrival. We will look forward to their return at a safe distance. I will ask Brooks to give you an update of their effort only after he has showered of course.

Evidently, "mama" was not happy with our work because we did not enjoy a Sonic Happy Hour.

We will double our efforts tomorrow in hopes of securing that refreshing "soda".

One does not visit Haiti and stay the same. An evening walk along the canal returns one to the simple beauties of life - a glorious sunset over a mountain ridge, a princess Leica swinging in your arms and a beautiful people working the land. It is good for one to return to such a simple focus - we serve a glorious Lord indeed.

Walk along the canal with sun setting

"Devo" time then bed -
David

HATS Team Introductions

Well since we have a lot of visitors to the HATS blog with the visitation of this team, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce you to the Team.

HATS:
Karen or DG (Director General). When the Lord had in mind to establish a safe haven for kids of Haiti I would imagine His checklist would have included the following:
A. A soft heart full of compassion for His children - check
B. A strong desire for those children to grow, learn and be leaders in their own community - check
C. Boldness to continually step out in faith with the One who calls - check
D. Strength and courage to be faithful to the task - check
Finally, a little red hair to add a little spunk to the process of serving - check
Karen is the living, breathing example of James 1:27. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Karen Huxter (photo courtesy Amber Hildebrandt)

Ti-Luc is Karen's little man. He is a special creation who has overcome alot of odds. His complete story is probably documented somewhere in the confines of this blog. Safe to say that Ti-Luc is nothing short of a miracle. To see his determination and progress is so encouraging. He is only just beginning. With DG leading the way, Ti-Luc will go farther than anyone of us could ever imagine. He's helping me write this blog as I speak - he's a special young man!

Ti Luc can do everything including paint

Ti Luc helping David write the blog

Team Illinois:
Seth and Jessie Huber are the new full time assistants to Karen, Luckner, and Hats. A young couple that has already made their impact here at the orphanage (see the picture of the new Girl's Dorm). After, a few more days to collect stories and embarrassing moments I will prepare a more lengthy description and storyline to share with you. For the moment though, here is a brief description:

Seth & Jessie with Jofky

Seth - humble, talented cut-in man with the paint brush, likes to celebrate No-Shave November, a worker, and according to the research we have completed so far we believe he is the only former All-American soccer player currently residing in Haiti.
Jessie - well Jessie is Jessie and I am sure to those that know her well that entails a lot but for those of us that just met her she is - vivacious, funny, kind, caring, has evidently had a crush on Seth since 4th grade, a talented painter and cut-in woman in her own right, a hard worker as well and evidently the 10 months she spent in the 1980's made a major impact on her musical taste

Jessie & Seth after many hours painting in the heat

Team Texas:
The newbies -
Joanna Ritchie - A caregiver, joyful, smiles a lot, a kind and compassionate spirit, willing to do what needs to be done, a faithful servant

Joanna with some of the beautiful children

The lovely Joanna, also tired out

Madeline - or "Maddie" she said that her friends call her Maddie, I asked if I could be her friend not like FaceBook friend but you know just like a friend friend and she said yes I could and then I asked if I could call her Maddie as well and after a moments hesitation relented to letting me call her Maddie - Maddie also is kind and caring, what a joy it is to see her and her sister love on these precious children, Maddie is a excellent painter and a understanding painting inspector (since it was my fascia work she was inspecting), she is a hard worker and joy to have here.
Special note of interest - the parents of the Ritchies, Brian and Molly, will be releasing their new book Parenting, The Ritchie Way next weekend with a book signing at our local Barnes and Noble and I will certainly be the first in line.

Sleeping beauty Maddie after working hard in heat

The Veterans -
Brittanie (Ritchie) Wooten - a gentle and sweet spirit, uninhibited with her care and concern for others, loving, kind, looks out for the need in others - shall I go on? Every home needs a Brittanie and we and the kids at Hats are fortunate that we get to share these few days with her in Haiti.

Maddie (standing) with sister Brittanie & Ti Luc

Garrett Wooten or also known as G - Garrett has served as our historian (Texas, that is), music analyst, duct tape professional, Google trivia expert and all-around good guy. G is talented in his own right and will be leading us in song and worship from the roof top tonight.

Hard working Garrett

The tired great G with wife Brittanie

Me, David - well instead of making up a bunch of stuff to try and impress you I asked Karen to go around and ask the Team for their comments and then insert them below (the following remarks are unedited and unseen by me until the exact time of this posting - I hope they are kind and sweet):

Man on roof is nutty Mr. David

Group leader David pretending he's working

Seth: "Karen, I just can't use David on the paint team anymore. I mean did you see that cut-in he tried to do on the back side of the house. It took me two hours to touch up his touch up. I will need you to find something else for him to do."

Jessie: "What do I say? (long pause) Karen, he's a little weird and lacks people skills. Does he even have a job? I really feel sorry for him - I'm not sure what to say, a lot more talented that David, right?"

Joanna:  "Karen, I know you have shown a great deal of patience with David since this is his third time down but don't you think my fabulous brother-in-law Garrett could be the next team leader?  You know he's a lot more talented that David, right?"

Madeline: "Can you do just one thing for me?" "Yes, Madeline, what is is?" Karen responds. "For the last time, will you tell him to stop calling me Maddie!"

Brittanie: "Karen, I think we just need to continue to work with him and show a little patience. I mean you should have seen all the times I had to be patient with him as he learned a simple dance routine for the It's a Wonderful Life presentation. I've heard of "two left" feet but this guy's feet must be backwards."

Garrett: "I admire David so much. He is the best photographer I know. Certainly better than any other guy I know with a D-90. Are you going to publish this back in the States because I really don't want my boss to hear that."

Editors Note:
Brooks Boyett who is currently serving at The Comfort House will be at Hats on Sunday and will be able to give a complete description of their work there. So check back tomorrow for their update.
Correction from previous post:
Haiti does not offer Blue Bell ice cream - that was wishful thinking on our part. However, "mama" has promised that if we work hard the rest of the day she will take us to Sonic Happy Hour.

Day One for Team Illinois and Team Texas:

Well I can tell you this, there certainly has not been a lot of idle time at the HATS compound since our last visit a year ago about this time. The word "transformation" doesn't even begin to describe the amount of work that has taken place. Of course, what did you expect with Karen leading the charge? Such is the reason we brought the grass seed, that way we can for the first time say that no matter where she is (or shall I say moving quickly to) there will actually be grass growing under her feet.

A few highlights from the day:

1. Started the day off right with a "spirited" devotion and praise time over at the school - Madeline informed us that she will be hosting a similar rally at THS next week.

2. Paint, paint, paint - purple paint. Today we made great progress painting the girls new dorm and yes we painted it purple with white trim of course. According to Superintendent Seth, we are 92.74% complete. We will finish up the girls dorm tomorrow and then move on to the two story Huber mansion.

Work underway on the girls's home

Colouring up nicely

David with JJ supervising the painting

Mama's built in painting team

Painters - Seth and Vladimy

Looking good

3. We had a straight forward discussion with Jessie about the the magnificence of the State of Texas. Garrett, our resident Texas Historian, was able to provide Jessie with a multitude of Texas facts and historical markers which by the reaction on Jessie's face were quite astonishing. As I mentioned earlier, Texas gave the USA George W and who is that guy that Illinois recently gave us...?

4. The Ritchie girls are as expected following in their older sister's footsteps and providing such a blessing to the kids at HATS. They can paint, too.

5. Our friend Marie and her kiddos (Angelberrie, Julie, Niessa and Benjamin) are visiting with us tonight from PAP. Marie is the widow of our dear friend Pastor Augustin Alberoi. Pastor Alberoi was a prince of a man who went to be with our Lord during the earthquake. I was fortunate to meet him on my first trip to Haiti in 2008. It was good to see Marie and her precious family. Missionary James was kind enough to bring them out from PAP this afternoon to pay us a visit. Of course, James wanted his Rice-o-Roni as well.

6. Karen is still go, go, go.

7. Ti-Luc is awesome. You should see this guy. Last year, he was just taking a few steps at a time. Now, he's running across the living room (only when mom is not looking) and playing soccer in the courtyard with Seth. Hey G, what was the name of that All-American soccer player from that college in Central Illinois - starts with a "S"?

8. All in all, what a blessed day. The fellowship of the team has just been great - except for when a certain member of the team said "so you don't really work, do you?" What was that all about Jessie? Have you heard of respect your elders? Tomorrow we will have a special "devo" for the young lady covering that exact topic.

9. Oh, did I mention Karen is still go, go, go?

10. As always, Karen brought in our favorite Blue Bell ice cream...
thanks "mom"!

Bed time -
David