Well, I didn’t plan on writing the blog today, but I started getting sick last night, so today I’m trying to recover. Hopefully I can get back to my work tomorrow because I’d like to get a few things done before Karen gets back. (I wrote the majority of this blog last Tuesday while I was sick. Thankfully it didn’t last and I was back to work on Wednesday. That’s the reason this blog is so late though; I got well and was too busy getting things done to finish it! I’ll add a few comments throughout the blog to update you guys and I will put those in parenthesis)
We’ve talked to Karen a few times since she’s been gone and it sounds like she is having quite the time in Canada. Of course she misses her kids here, but she’s getting some much needed rest. yesterday she called and got to speak to each of the children! They are so happy and a few of them have already started asking , “when will mom be home?” All we’re telling them right now is, “soon,” but they haven’t quite grasped the concept of that term yet and think it means later today. Needless to say we’re getting bombarded by the kids!
Here’s an update for Karen on Ti Luc:). He’s still having a great time, but he still misses you. We decided that we probably shouldn’t feed him cinnamon rolls every day or he might not want to leave our house. Over the weekend, though, we made french toast. Ti Luc had already eaten because he was too hungry to wait for the french toast, but after he smelled it and saw what we were making he insisted that he had some too. I told him that only French people eat french toast so he wasn’t going to be able to have any. That didn’t do it for him, though. He kept insisting. So we came to the conclusion that he could have some if he had a french mustache. He was more than fine with that, and if we wouldn’t have washed it off, he would have kept it all day- He was proud of his mustache! Jess also got some new hair this week, thanks to Antwa!
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| He misses you! |
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| The Frenchman! |
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| Jess getting her hair done |
As for work, not much has changed. Jess finished painting the devotion room and is now working on the front depo (She finished it!)
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| Li Bel! |
I’m still working on dressers part of the day, but have also started putting up new separating doors at the school to split up the preschool classes(I finished those Thursday). I’m building the dressers in the devotion room because that’s where I have the most room. It thought it was going to be really tough building with the kids around (and it has been at times), but the kids have behaved very well. One day all the little kids sat very attentively and watched me build for about an hour. It may have made a difference that Jess and I had convinced them that I was building houses for frogs and lizards. We’ve been giving the dressers to the kids as they have been finished. To keep the kids from any sort of jealousy, we’ve been drawing names out of a hat. The kids are so excited to get their dresser! Hopefully this sickness doesn’t persist so I can get those things done. (I finished the dressers and we gave them out over the weekend. The kids had a great time moving all their clothes and reorganizing their rooms!)
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| Dressers 101 with prof Huber |
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| Eating watermelon and waiting to see who gets the first dresser |
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| Dresser |
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| Organizing |
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| Finished |
The kids have also been doing a little work this week. They’ve been cleaning the sides of the kids homes- even Ti Luc was pitching in on the work.
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| Working hard |
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| Cleaning Day |
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| Cleaning day2 |
It hasn’t been that exciting of a week, other than that we’re having to conserve generator time because we’re running short on gas and can’t get more until Karen is home. And of course we haven’t gotten Haitian power all week! There’s not a whole lot to say, but I will share a couple funny stories.
God has quite a sense of humor. First, I must explain a few stories from a television show Jess and I have been watching lately. Recently a missionary friend lent Seinfeld season 6 to Jess and I, so we’ve been watching one every now and again. Anyway, a few weeks ago, we watched the “Big Salad” episode. In the episode Elaine asked George and his girlfriend to pick up a big salad for her from the cafe they eat at all the time. George paid for the big salad but the girlfriend picked it up and proceeded to give it to Elaine without any explanation as to who bought the big salad. This bothered George so he subtly told Elaine that he had bought the big salad to which she and eventually the girlfriend got upset that George had to have credit for it. In the next episode, the Seinfeld crew went to a different cafe and Elaine tried to purchase a big salad, but the waitress said that they only have small salads. The reason those stories are so funny is because both of them were reenacted here last week. 1. While Jess was painting the devotion room she overheard Karena(2) and Judel(3) having a conversation. One of the kids favorite things to do here is act like they are making different kinds of food. Anyway, Karena said to Judel, “I have a little salad for you.” To which Judel responded, “I don’t want a little salad, I want a big one!” And Karena replied, “I ONLY have a little salad!” 2. A few days ago Marguerite(who cooks for Jess and I) brought a big bag of cherries to devotions which she had picked up on her way to work. Later that morning, Jess and I were on our way back to the house and Jacque stopped us. He wanted to inform us that he had given the cherries to Marguerite. We thought it was slightly funny because we both thought of Seinfeld, but we thanked him for his generosity. When we got upstairs, we told Marguerite how thankful we were for the cherries that Jacque had given us, and she started laughing out loud. She told us that he had only given her 4 cherries to put into the bag with the rest of the cherries!
Oh, I forgot about tropical storm Emily! I guess I forgot about it because it didn’t hit us. We had a scare at first because it was projected to go right over us, but it shifted course and missed us completely. We had the chance of getting up to 20 inches of rain, but we didn’t get any and only had an overcast day.
So when the Canada team came in May, they sent along names or phrases for each of the kids and for Karen’s home. Well, we also got a phrase for our house too. Jess found it under a pile of stuff in our office this week so we finally put it up. Thanks, its perfect! And thanks also for the kitchen utensils!
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| Welcome to Easter Zone |
I promised last time that I would write about my background a bit. Well, Here we go. Some people would say my testimony is a bit boring, and I actually used to struggle with that a bit. I mean, if you’ve gone to church for a big part of your life you’ve heard many people’s stories of how they were dramatically changed from a life of sin to a relationship with Jesus. Praise God for those stories because of God’s grace! I don’t have one of those stories. I gave my heart to Jesus when I was a little boy (5 years old or so). I realize, what does that mean at that age? Did my life drastically change at that time? It didn’t stop me from pouring pickles into my mom’s fresh load of laundry or enticing my brother to spray a water hose into our bedroom window. More importantly than getting saved so young, I grew up in a strong Christian family. I didn’t just hear about Christianity, I saw it in action in my family and the church we were involved in. I was encouraged to grow in Christ everyday. In one of my previous blogs, I wrote about the hometown that I grew up in. I realize that Coffeen was a lot different for me than it was for a lot of other people. That’s because it’s not about the place you live, it’s about the people you live with. My experience in Coffeen, is completely based on the family I grew up in. The reason my testimony is boring is because I never did drugs, or got drunk, or had sex before marriage; I didn’t have some big rebellious period in life or a time when I seriously doubted who God is. That has nothing to do with me, though, I’ve realized that I needed just as much grace as those who have a “good” testimony. Also, who knows who I would be now if I didn’t realize my need for Christ so young. I think as Christians, we get glimpses of our primal nature from time to time and I realize that without keeping myself in check, I would have passion for money, fame and women. I would probably be a much different person now and who knows if I would have been able to let those things go after I had them. Even if I have lived a pretty “righteous” life, I still can’t claim to be “good,” even if I feel like I deserve that tag at times, because Jesus didn’t even claim to be “good.” (“Why do you call me good?” Jesus asked. “Only God is truly good.” Mark 10:18) Jesus knew that the definition of good was in his father- in God. All, I know is that I thank God for his grace in giving me a boring testimony.
So how did I get here? Let’s start a long time ago- I was born Sep. 5th 1983 to Stan and Cindy Huber. I have 2 sisters(3 and 4 years older than me) and 1 brother(1 year younger), and we were all home schooled through high school. Through Jr. High and High school our family hosted foreign exchange students from all over the world. We all went to Greenville College in central Illinois. Since it was only 20 minutes from our home, Coffeen was the place to go for late night coffee and games. While I was on college, I really started to develop my Christian worldview. One of the things I realized was that I don’t want to do something just because that’s the way it’s “supposed” to be done. My senior year in college, I even questioned why I went to college, not that I didn’t have a good future but because of the pressure of so many youth to go to college no matter what. This wasn’t a rebellious spirit toward everything, but toward the American Christian worldview. I mean, is it God’s will for every youth in America to go to college? I would say no, but that’s the pressure a lot of youth felt. I didn’t want to do something because it would give me success in the world or make me a lot of money so I could have a comfortable house for my wife and two kids. I’m not saying those things are bad, unless it’s not what God wants for you. I wanted to do God’s will at all cost.
I think the rest of my life reflects this thought to an extent. I studied Sports Management and Business in college. I was also really involved in soccer. After college, I got the opportunity to try out for some professional soccer teams, so I didn’t want to miss out on that opportunity. In the process of trying that, I realized I also needed to make some money and since my dad was a carpenter and he had taught me some things, I started to do that to give me the opportunity to pursue soccer. Soccer fell through, but during the process I realized how much I loved carpentry and also that I didn’t like the hours involved with sports management. Carpentry changed from doing it to play soccer, into doing it to travel and serve and because I loved it. Over the next few years, I traveled to Kenya, Brazil, Romania, and Mexico (multiple times) on mission trips, all the while developing a business in carpentry. God gave me a peace in ‘wasting’ my college education, because I was doing what He wanted. Also, I would never give up going to college when and where I did because I was a part of 3 of my soccer teammates turning their lives to Jesus (which is alone worth college tuition), as well as my spiritual development during that time, friendships, and because for about two years straight my carpentry clients were all professors at the college!
This thought process also played a part in my marriage to my beautiful wife Jessie! We are 5 and a half years apart. A lot of people will say there’s nothing wrong with that, but I started dating her when I was out of college and she was a senior in high school. Everything in my pride told me no, but I questioned, “is this weird because people think it’s weird, or because God thinks it’s weird?” And I realized that God didn’t think so. If I hadn’t let go of my pride in that, I wouldn’t have the wonderful woman that I do now!
Now Jess and I are here in Haiti. We “shouldn’t” really be here. Our original plan was to teach overseas, but somewhere “responsible” (where we’d make money and live at least somewhat comfortably). But Christ tells us to “take up your cross” and follow Him- not just whenever we want, but in all situations. It would be so much easier being home with our family and friends, “preparing” for the future. Instead, Christ has said, “take up your cross, trust me with your future here on earth, and I will prepare you for a better future in heaven.” In doing so, we’ve found peace and joy and the refreshing streams of life here in a place I wouldn’t call the land of “milk and honey.”
(We are going to pick up Karen today as well as Jess’ brother and sister and my brother and a friend. The kids are so excited to have Maman home and we are so excited to have our family come and share this experience with us!)
Here are some more photos from the week for you to enjoy! Thanks for your support of our ministry here and we pray that God fills you with His Spirit as you seek him and that His grace guides you as you serve him!
Love, The HATS team
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| Moise Sandra and Ismyis |
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| Ann in her favorite place |
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| Deiunel and JJ |
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| Milan and JJ enjoying their watermellon |
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| Clean laundry |
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| Three Hungry Goats |
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| Josie on the swing |
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| Djemima taking care of Ann |
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| Jofky gets his turn |
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| Our visitor |
