The Americans are Coming!

Family and Friends,

Day 113 of our Haiti Adventure!

We are gearing up for a huge mission team to visit starting tomorrow through March 7th. This is truly the variety team. We already have a family here who is working with the school sponsorship program, especially to take the yearly photo of each child in all of the various schools of our community. Soon another 23 people will be arriving, and a host of other projects are planned to keep them busy.

First of all we are excited to offer a scaled-down version of Promise Keepers for some of the men in the community. Each afternoon they will gather and learn about living out their calling to be godly husbands and fathers. Then Patchouko and I will follow-up with each participant in the weeks and months to come and help them not only carry out this teaching in their own lives but also pass on the information to other men. This should be a great opportunity for us, and it addresses what is a pressing need in this culture.

There will also be Bible teaching in the various grade schools we operate. We normally refer to these programs as VBS, but it is done within the framework of the normal school day. Some of the people in the team will be putting all of that together for each morning. We will also do various medical clinics in the community, including branching out to the Baptist Church up in the mountains, a location where I'm not sure if we have ever had a clinic before.

Now for the big projects, as if that wasn't enough! Some of the people on the team will be joining a local Haitian work crew to build a house on a small but beautiful piece of land Pam bought down by the ocean. They will try to complete the whole thing in the time they are here. That should be interesting to see the Haitians and Americans working side-by-side to design and build a complete house in only five days. It is part of a new project to offer some sort of care for elderly people who can't care for themselves. We'll share more about this as the whole thing develops.

Some other projects to fill any “down time” we might have include finishing and painting the new orphanage compound, moving the orphans and staff into their new homes, and doing some preparation on the house where our family will eventually move. I'm not sure we will get to all of these things, but they are on the list anyway! And of course we will round out each evening with a time of worship and Bible study with the Youth Group.

It should be an exhausting, yet hopefully Spirit-filled week of ministry. Today the whole family loaded up in the car and we went to Les Cayes to buy a ton of groceries for the week. We are preparing the house and the yard and letting everyone in the community know how they can participate and help. We are tackling this week with all the energy and positive attitude we can muster. I'm not sure who said it, but one of my favorite missionary quotes is this: “Revival happens when you go to bed tired and wake up totally exhausted.” In other words ministry always takes prayer and waiting on the Lord and the power and grace of God's Spirit, but it also just takes a lot of hard work.

Please pray for the safety and health and success of the team visiting us this week as they serve God with their various gifts and talents.  We'll post soon and let you know how it is all going.
 
The road less travelled is always full of Adventure!
-The Grimm Familiy Adventurers