Garden work!

Anita and Alex were doing some garden work yesterday- they haven't had much time to do much in the gardens recently, so it was nice to take some time to pull weeds and plant some bulbs!

The aftermath of Tropical Storm Isaac...

The recent tropical storm which hit Haiti has done a fair amount of damage and destruction around Aleg... thankfully nobody around here died, but it has been reported at least 4 people have died across the country.

We're so thankful the winds weren't as high as they could have been- they were only around 50-mph here in the valley. Because of that, much of the bean crop seems to have been saved. There was a lot of rain though, so there have been many wash-outs.

Unfortunately the road between Ti Guave and Aleg has been blocked by mudslides. To give you an idea of the damage done to the roads, take a look at some pictures we took...

The erosion in some places is extreme...

At the base of "Jackrabbit hill" the previously-poured concrete pad 

saved the entire road from being washed away...

A picture of the river behind the new clinic building...

Here is the riverbed we cross to get to Granfon, just up outside the Aleg valley.

Notice the huge pile of rocks dumped in the middle of the road?

In addition to the pile of rocks being washed over the road, 

a large section collapsed and washed away...

Besides all that, there's many, many washouts on the main road.

Another large washout, about 2' deep.

Here's the road coming up to Mount Fidel...

Not too bad!

Not too bad, that is, until we drove up to this section of road!

Heading out to Ti Guave we encountered a good sized mudslide.

We were able to drive up and over this one...

But not 5 minutes later we were stopped by a much larger mudslide...

There was a Haitian work crew working on it, so it should be cleared within 3 days...

Until then, we're basically stranded on this side of the mountains :)

Though the damage wasn't as extreme as, say, the earthquake, or other hurricanes in the past, the Haitian people still suffer... many won't have as good of a crop harvest as they were hopping, some had parts of their houses wash away, and others had animals die.

As we seek to minister to the physical and spiritual needs of those around us, we covet your prayers for wisdom and grace. The days ahead will be tiring, but it will be worth it, for the cause of Christ and His Gospel!

The roads will need to be repaired, which will be yet another strain on the mission, financially and physically, and the medical clinic is expecting an influx of patients with injuries associated with the storm... But God will give us grace! We are thankful for His provision!

Thanks for your support! It is greatly appreciated!

An evening of singing and a rat in the house!

We had some visitors the last few days.

Two young men from the church in Labich:

Jude and Makinzi.

They both play the guitar beautifully and we enjoyed a special time of singing with them.

We sang Creole and English songs as they played.

Even Cherie got in on the singing! :)

Another incident of note:

Michael had been smelling a foul scent in his room for a day or so 

and went digging around to see what was causing it...

Yes, that's right- a big, fat, (albeit dead) rat was under some pieces of plastic on the floor.

We're not entirely sure what killed it, though we suspect this might be the rat Michael winged with his slingshot the week before. Perhaps he died of internal injuries... who knows :)

Needless to say, Michael's room is smelling a lot better, now... :)

A quick update...

Greeting in Jesus' name!

Just wanted to give you all a quick update this morning, letting you know that Steve and his family and the rest of the GTH team are back in Haiti, safe and sound! They arrived last night just before midnight.

Please pray especially for Steve and his family as they readjust to life here- they've been gone for 6 weeks and I'm sure there'll be some challenges and stresses jumping right back into life here! Would you join us in prayer for them?

Everything has been going pretty smooth coming up to their return and for that we're very grateful! Thanks for praying for us that were left back here and carrying us through these last weeks on the wings of prayer...

God bless you all today, as you serve Him.

August 8th, 2012

Today has been very rainy and damp! The rain clouds rolled in around noon and brought some high winds and heavy rain for a little while. Thankfully it was sunny in the morning, so we were able to do some laundry then :)

Probably the biggest happening today was Michael and Virginia's departure- they're going to the States for Thea's wedding (many of you remember or know Thea; she was a nurse here) and will be gone for about a week. Tomorrow Grandpa Harold and Anita leave for the same wedding. It'll be a challenge not having any fluent Creole speakers around! But thankfully Michael's friend Wilmond will be arriving tomorrow and will act as our translator the whole time they're gone.

Other than that, today has been pretty much normal. I went around and grabbed some pictures of everyone's activities... :)

Josh is working on the new clinic doors.

These grates will go over the existing doors and provide more protection against forced entry :)

Like I said, it's been rainy here this afternoon!

Take a look at the this, dark clouds... :)

Going inside, Abi and Dave roll out some cinnamon rolls as a special treat for the travelers...

Mary and Caleb work on some Creole lessons in the living room.

Caleb is using the computer program called Byki.

He's learning fast...

Breanna and Anita had different activities:

Breanna (pictured on the trail above) took a hike to the "grassy spot" 

while Anita stayed in her house, preparing for her journey.... 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a peak at our activities today!

May the Lord bless you as you serve Him!

August 7th, 2012...

Well! A lot has happened in the last week!

First off, my (Nathan) parents and little brothers arrived last Thursday! We have been having a good time with them so far and are looking forward to getting out and meeting some of our neighbors and doing some hiking :)

Many of you were praying for us as the tropical storm Ernesto blew past- thank you so much! The storm went south of Haiti a good bit, so we only had heavy rains for part of Sunday and not much wind. I don't think the damage from the rains is substantial... Praise the Lord for that!

We went to a friend's house the other day to watch her make coffee beans... Her name is Madam Asone, and she comes to the mission frequently. Take a look at some of the pictures of the process below!

After picking the beans and allowing them to dry for a while, she gathered them into her sifting basket.

She then sifted the chaff and leaves from the beans. 

After that she took some of the outer shells off... 

Then she picked out the remaining debris of rocks and dirt. 

 She then pounded the inner shells off.

She then took the cleaned beans and let them sit out in the sun for a while longer.

She will then roast them in some sugar and grind them.