The End of the Adventure For Now

Family and Friends,

We apologize for the extended silence on our blog, but it has been for an important purpose.  We have prayerfully reached the conclusion that resigning immediately from our position as missionaries with Mission Haiti is in the best interest of our family. We are so thankful to God for the opportunity to serve the wonderful people of Haiti these past two years.  It truly has been an adventure, and we will never be the same. We also thank all of you so much for your financial and prayer support, and for simply sharing this unique experience with us in so many different ways.

We also want to personally thank Verlyn and Nancy Raak of Sioux Center, Mission Haiti board members, for their help and support over the last couple of months. They are willing to answer any questions you may have regarding the need for the decision we are making at this time.

Now our family will step away from missions and formal ministry for an undetermined amount of time.  Only God knows what the future holds and whether we will ever again have the privilege to be sent out for another adventure.  For now we are beginning to look for a suitable place for our family to live and work in the Sioux County area and are open to any suggestions or help you are willing to give.

God Bless,

the Grimms

2011 Financial Contributions Report

Family and Friends,

Thank you so much to all of you, our faithful supporters, for again making it possible for us to continue working with the precious people of Haiti this past year. We can't do this without your help, and our family and the people we serve are so grateful for the sacrifices you have made to partner with us in this ministry. Below are the financial figures for 2011 followed by a few comments:

Overall 2011 contributions:                           45,502        (2010- 44,844)

      -Personal salary                                          33,421.21    (2010- 36,561)   -10%

      (taxes, insurance, US home mortgage,
       vehicle costs, clothes, summer travel,
       vacation, home school curriculum, etc...)

      -Ministry expenses                                     12,081          (2010- 8,283)   +46%

      (plane tickets, travel expenses, housing,
       other in-Haiti ministry expenses, etc...)

Comments:

1. If you've ever wondered if God really cares about and controls finances, consider this...when we stepped out in faith two years ago to join Mission Haiti and raise our own support as missionaries, we prayed that God would provide an amount somewhere near the level Cory was previously being paid on staff at Good News Reformed Church in Sioux Falls. After looking at our total giving listed above for those two years (2010- 44,844, 2011- 45,502), which by itself indicates incredible consistency, can you guess what Cory's final salary was at church? You guessed it, $45,000. God answers prayer, and He DOES care about and control people's finances!

2. We were very pleased to be able to keep our personal salary lower this year and move more money into the “ministry expenses” side of things. This was necessitated by our spending more time living in Haiti in 2011 and was made possible by some great young women (some of whom have traveled to Haiti frequently) renting our home in Sioux Falls during the 2^nd half of the year.

3. We are setting some financial goals for the coming year in keeping with our desire to serve in Haiti long-term. We have never set a target amount to raise each month or year, but we feel strongly that it would be beneficial to continue raising additional support this year for several reasons. First of all, as most of you know we live “by faith” or month-to-month, so to speak, normally carrying over a balance anywhere between $0 to $5,000. We would like to build up a little more of a reserve this year to insure the availability of funds for unexpected costs or emergencies. We don't feel we need an entire year's salary, like some mission organizations require of their missionaries, but somewhere between 3-6 months of expenses would probably suffice.

We also want to work towards being able to afford some kind of very basic health insurance, educational savings for our kids, and retirement contribution. We don't know what these “benefits” would look like exactly, or how much they will cost, but we plan to research these questions and are open to suggestions. As some of you are aware it is very difficult for us to find health insurance for Lynn, so this major hurdle alone will require a great deal of prayer and research. Again, as we look towards our goal of serving as missionaries for a very long time, we feel these considerations will help make that a reality. Most denominations now require their overseas missionaries to raise in the neighborhood of $80-120,000/year, but we hope we won't have to go that high. In the coming year we plan to arrive at a realistic figure to aim for.

We want to say a big “thank you” one more time to all of you for helping us in so many ways. It was a great year, and we eagerly look forward to whatever God has for us in the year to come.

God Bless!

-the Grimms

Update on the Board Meeting

Family and Friends,

We are pleased to announce that our meeting with the Mission Haiti board was very positive, and there seemed to be a general consensus that the issues we previously had were addressed and worked out.  As you might have guessed, the main problem was breakdowns in communication leading to hurt feelings and misunderstandings.  With us normally in Haiti and everyone else back here in the States, emailing can be non-personal, phone service is unrealiable and expensive, and when our leaders lead teams to Haiti it is challenging to carve out the time we all need to talk through everything on our hearts and minds.  We all agreed to be more proactive and forthright in addressing our questions and concerns in a timely way.

Another key issue was how I (Cory) allowed my disappointment with the delaying of the Bible School plans to spill over into conversations with Haitian people, which was perceived by some to be dissent against Mike and Pam and/or Mission Haiti.  We apologized to the board for letting that happen, and we apologize to you, our supporters, as well.  Now we are anxious to get down there and reassure people that this ministry is united in serving the Lord, and stronger than ever in our commitment to the precious people of Haiti.

Speaking of getting down there, we will work with Mike and Pam in the days to come to chart our our schedule for the weeks to come.  One upcoming treat will be a visit from Lynn's parents, as well as her cousin and her cousin's son.  It might even work out for all of us to travel together. 

Thanks to everyone for your prayers!  Many of you contacted us with support and encouragement, and we want you to know how much we appreciated it. 

Happy New Year!  Or as they say in Haiti, Bon Ane!

-The Grimms    

Merry Christmas and an Important Announcement

Family and Friends,

Merry Christmas!  Wherever you are and whoever you are with today, may you sense the power and love of our Lord who has come to live among us.

Our important announcement is that we were asked by the Mission Haiti leaders and board to return yesterday to the US.  It would not be appropriate to give details at this point, but we will be up front in saying there are some serious conflict and issues needing resolve which involve us, the board, the Plasiers, and the Haitian people.  All of us need your prayers in the days ahead for the unity of this organization and for the will of God to be clearly known and understood by us all. 

Right now we are staying with Lynn's parents in Sioux Center and enjoying this unexpected opportunity to spend time with family.  It will also work out to join Cory's family for a get-together in a couple of days as well. 

God Bless,
The Grimms

Early December Medical Team

Family and Friends,

Greetings this fine December day, just 9 days before the celebration of our Lord's birth.  It is quite sunny here this morning, low-80s at 9 o'clock.  Last night in youth group was a special night.  I was feeling down in the dumps, which I have learned over time in ministry generally means God is about to do something great.  We continued our study of Abraham's life, and at the end we built an altar of big rocks, just like he did when God spoke to him.  Each of the people at the youth group meeting were encouraged to say something about their relationship with God, or lack thereof.  Evens (known as "cookie") mentioned he didn't have Christ in his heart, and evil spirits were grabbing at him at night when he is in bed trying to sleep. 

I asked him if he believed in Jesus and whether he was ready to repent of his sins and commit his life fully to Christ.  He said he wanted to do that and felt God had spoken to him personally on this night.  We talked through a few more things to make sure he was making a strong commitment and understood the implications of his decision, and then he prayed to give his life to Jesus.  This was special for me, because ever since my first trip to Haiti over 2 1/2 years ago, Evens has had a special place in my heart.  He has been a pet project of mine.  He is painfully shy, but a hard worker at home and at school.  He also has a fire in him that might propel him to do great things for God.  Last night we welcomed him into the community of the saints and celebrated his new life.

About a week ago we were visited by an interesting medical team, mainly from South Dakota.  The leaders were Chad Haber and Dr. Annette Bosworth of Sioux Falls.  They were here last Fall in the month of September, and you can find a blog post on that visit in our archives as well.  Just like last time they brought a huge amount and variety of prescription level drugs, leaving most of them behind afterward for Nurse Sue to utilize in the clinic.  They conducted clinics all over our community, even up in the farthest school of Toussaint, where their help is so desperately needed.

We could write a lot more about the week, but you might be more interested to read about it through the eyes of the team members and Dr. Bos herself.  Use the following link to check out what they have written and filmed:

www.annettebosworth.com


Have a wonderful day!
-The Grimms

Tarantulas and Deportees

Family and Friends,

This may seem like a strange title for a blog post, but a connection can be found here. Both tarantulas and people who have been deported play important roles in Haitian culture, and both of them seem to surprise you, showing up when you would least expect it.

We have had a lot more tarantulas than usual around our property in the last couple of months. Richard got a kick out of it when he was here. He likes to hold them and take pictures, even if they aren't all the way dead yet. We found one hiding behind our propane tank in the kitchen one day, a mostly-grown adult who somehow found a way into our house. I guess he was strong enough to push the screen door open a bit and sneak inside when no one was looking.   He experienced the wrath of the broom handle.  Then a baby one was crawling on Alexandra one day while she was in bed. When we said, “A little spider is on you,” she jumped out of bed in a flash.

There have been several others in the yard and tons out on the paths in the mountains. One evening after youth group a big fellow was running across the yard with Emmanuel in hot pursuit. He got to a cement step and stopped. This step is 8 inches high, but he was able to stand on a couple of legs and reach a couple of other legs over the edge and begin to pull himself up. That means his span was around 10 inches or so. That is a big spider. Soon he felt the bottom of Emmanuel's flip-flop mercilessly squeezing his life away.

Another fascinating story about tarantulas...Richard and I (Cory) were hiking through the mountains, and as we passed by the village of Jabouim we saw a little tarantula walking happily along the path. He was about 1 inch across or a little bigger. As we were watching intently, suddenly a huge insect flew in, something like a giant mosquito, and attacked the spider. Soon they were engaged in chemical warfare, each one stinging and striking and injecting poisons for all they were worth. The mosquito-like thingy won easily! It was pretty amazing to watch. It made me wish I had a camera for filming this strange event in nature. Tarantulas look so gross and intimidating, but they are virtually blind, very slow, and easy to kill.

Like tarantulas, the people who get deported back to Haiti for whatever reason usually appear more threatening than they actually are. Recently a man named Patrick, probably age 28 or 30, was sent back here from Canada. He has many extended family members in this area, and they seem to be taking care of him for now. He is a big talker and seems to be drunk all the time, and something about him makes me kind of nervous. He is totally fluent in English, and the way he talks to me makes it seem like he would love for me to say something that would justify him (in his eyes) to try enticing me to argue or fight.

Antoine has begun taking Patrick under his wing. Antoine was deported years ago and has managed to give his life to God and make the most of his situation, even marrying a local girl and starting a family. Antoine told me, “Patrick is in that middle place, where he could either ruin his whole life or even kill himself, or he could begin to walk on the straight and narrow and have a real life.” Antoine is probably the perfect person to try to help him, because he has been in the same shoes, so I'm praying that it works out. In the meantime I will probably avoid Patrick unless God says to do otherwise. He just has a little too much hatred towards all white people right now.  He is probably harmless, but there are some fangs to contend with if you get too close.

Tarantulas and deportees. Both of them unpredictable, but both provide the potential for interesting adventures.

May Your Adventure Include Interesting Characters Today!

-The Grimm Family Adventurers

Bible School Update

Family and Friends,

We don't have a ton of information to write on the Bible School right now.  As we mentioned recently, the Mission Haiti board decided to put this project "on hold" for now.  We weren't given a full explanation of this conversation or the reasoning behind the decision.  The two basic pieces we were told was that when Pam was praying about it she felt like we were running ahead of God and disobeying his guidance by doing this project at this time, and later we were told that Mission Haiti would like to solidify current ministries before undertaking a new, big project like a Bible School.

That is pretty much all we know right now.  We weren't given a timeline of when this could be reconsidered, or a list of exactly what needs to be accomplished with current ministries or anything like that.  When we heard this news we were completely surprised and even devastated.  This may have been discussed previously by our leaders and/or the board, but we were unaware of it.  We felt the momentum on this project could not be stronger or more positive, and every day God was opening up new doors for funding, teacher and student recruiting, curriculum development, and campus construction.  However, we know that God works this way from time to time, asking us to put everything on hold and refocus on what is important.  So we are trying to trust Him and our leaders and use this delay, however long it turns out to be, to continue to work on the vision, language acquisition, and anything else we can to do put ourselves in a position to do the Bible School well when it is ready to go again.

Meanwhile we had to inform the resident directors (a young godly couple who had committed to coming as missionaries here), the professors (who planned to visit for a week to teach a class), and all applicants that the Bible School is "off" for now.  That was hard.  Also, the main grant for the construction of the campus came from Cory's home church, so we aren't sure how this delay will affect that relationship or their trust in us to complete the project for which they have contributed so much.  We also have several other grant applications floating around out there requesting funds for the school.  So all of those things are kind of in limbo for the time being.  It can be very discouraging and even embarassing to think about, but again, we are trying to make the most of this time.

Each day now we simply look around and see who we can help in any way possible to know God more.  We enjoy working with the youth group and the young kids we see each day.  That is a true blessing, but we continue to long for a setting where we can invest deeply in the young adults who will impact this nation and the world in years to come, helping them discover, understand, and put into action the deep truths of God found in the Scriptures.  So we are living in the tension between what is and what we feel we should be doing, hoping and trusting God has a purpose for this struggle.

Please pray for our family and Mission Haiti during this challenging time of ministry.  May God's grace and wisdom guide all of us as we work together and make decisions about how best to help the Haitian people be disciples of Jesus.

God Bless,
the Grimms