I’m back to work doing what I love–spreading the Good News of our Lord–praise the Lord! I have said many times I am the most blessed man I know, and I have the best job in the world. Thanks to all of you and, of course, first our Lord–you make it possible.
Last night I stayed at Dottie’s Guest House, just to spend a little time with her. She will be leaving Haiti the end of September; another organization will be taking over the guest house. She will be missed more than she knows, but the Lord has other plans for her now. We have to be ready to move if we are to be obedient to our Lord, even when we don’t know exactly where we’re going. That’s the adventure and the joy of walking with the Lord!
This morning I probably did the last mechanical thing I will do for Dottie–I put some spark plug wires on her Chevy. I told her I was retired from mechanic work, but I know better–I’m in Haiti.
Simon came over about 8 a.m., and we got our day started. We went to exchange money at a local market first, and then we stopped at a little market to look for chairs for our dining room at the mission house. We have been sitting on 8-inch board benches; I thought I might be able to find some comfortable chairs and, praise the Lord, I did. You will see them in the pictures; they are really nice and comfortable. We picked up 14 today, and will pick up 11 more tomorrow; that should be all we need. Then we drove out to Simon’s land. TEM, along with its supporters, was able to buy this land for Simon and his family after his rental room in Port was destroyed in the earthquake. We have been paying Simon’s rent for two small rooms for the last year and a half–no bathroom, no kitchen, no running water, and electricity only occasionally. Simon and his wife Nicole have two children, Nicolson and Sarah. Simon is in his third year of seminary, and Nicole is finishing her first year of computer school. We are hoping to build Simon’s family a 4-room house on this property in January 2012. We will lay the foundation and walls in November and December. If you really want to give a wonderful Christmas present to someone this year, send a gift in their name for this house. Simon is my right-hand man here in Haiti. He loves the Lord and never complains–that’s pretty awesome when you work with me. The cost of the house is around $11,000. Imagine that, a house for $11,000.
We then drove up to Z’Orange to drop off the chairs and pick up some tile to see if we could buy some more like it in Port. They did not have the same kind but, fortunately for us, they had some that was much nicer looking, and the owner is giving us the same price for it. We will pick up the tile tomorrow; we need about 2400 sq. ft.
After checking out the tile, we ran by the grocery and picked up a few items to tide us over while I’m here. We thought we would have sandwiches when we got back this evening, but Madame Do had another idea. She had cooked fried chicken, fried banana, and pickles (hot slaw to eat on the banana), and rice with red sauce–as usual it was delicious.
When I left Haiti the last time I was here, a Digicel tower (cell phone tower) was being built. Now, not only can I make phone calls from my office here in Z’Orange, I can send and receive e-mail. Man, we have come a long way since 1999, when my wife Shirley wouldn’t hear from me for three weeks at a time!
It is so hard to believe that, in just the last year, the Lord has blessed TEM with a mission house that has 3 indoor toilets and showers, a propane stove and refrigerator, A/C if we need it, new dining chairs, generators, a new 2011 Ford SUV, and the list goes on. We have been able to buy more land for Jerusalem 4, put ceiling fans in the school, and other things I can’t even think of now.
I just want to humbly say, Thank You, Jesus, for touching the hearts of your children to accomplish your visions. Thank You for having them be obedient to your call, and may you bless everyone and their families who are a part of TEM.
