Greetings to all of you blog readers at home, at work, or in coffee shops! As you sit there sipping a cup of something hot, surfing the web, and looking out the window at the winter wonderland, just imagine us sitting on a beach down in Haiti with a gentle warm breeze, the lapping of the water, a cool drink of ice tea, and a background of palm trees. Okay, we don't really do that very often. We just thought it would be fun to make all of you jealous whenever you have to drive on ice or shovel the snow.
The last of our four mission teams have come and gone, and the time has arrived to update the blog on a more regular basis as we march closer and closer to celebrating Christ's birth. For us it will be a tropical Christmas again this here! Here are some posts you can look forward to in the coming days:
“Update on the Bible School”
As you may or may not have heard, depending on your level of connection to the Mission Haiti organization through other avenues, Mike and Pam and the Mission Haiti board recently made the decision to place the Bible School project “on hold” for now. This post will talk about some of the reasons for this move and how it is affecting our family. “Reflections on the recent Medical Team”
This team that just left, who are traveling back to the US at this moment, included a doctor, several medical students almost ready to graduate, and several other individuals. They did some great clinics and left us with a ton of medicine. We will share some stories from their week. “Tarantulas”
Everyone's favorite furry creatures in Haiti have been showing up more and more. We found an adult-sized fellow in our house the other day! We will write more about these experiences in this post. “Music in Haiti”
Cory has had the opportunity to play on the church praise team each week, help youth group members write music, and help the new church youth choir. Through these experiences and others we have begun to learn some interesting things about music in Haiti and the potential to use the arts for ministry. “School Program Dilemmas”
One of the biggest thing Mission Haiti does is administer the school sponsorship program for about 1,600 students. Part of this work includes trying to oversee four primary schools, which has been a major struggle. Read more about what goes on and some big decisions we need to make. Here are some other quick updates you might like to know...
Santia (age 8) returned to live in the orphanage again. She had lived there previously for a year or two, left us to live with her older sister a few months ago, and then finally returned here at the beginning of this week. We don't know exactly what details went into that decision, but we are glad to have her back. I (Cory) have been trying to get a hug from her for two years, and she always runs away, but now I can continue that quest.
Mike and Pam are shipping a newer school bus down to Haiti loaded with school food and other supplies. The old bus is already sold to another ministry in Haiti. Please pray for the new bus to get through customs quickly and safely, without anything stolen or missing. When it gets through and our staff person Ronal gets it licensed and ready, Mike will fly down and drive it out to us where we will unload it and get it ready to pick up the next team around the 12th of January.
Alexandra, our youngest daughter, invited Jesus to come into her heart the other day. After throwing a huge fit and saying a lot of nasty things she felt really bad. She said, “I try to be good but I just can't do it!” After that we helped her understand that she needed Jesus in her heart to help. She prayed for forgiveness and asked Him to come in. Later that day she said, “Jesus really is in my heart! I can feel him!” We had a celebration the next day with cake and other fun stuff. It was for all three kids because Kester and Elizabeth never got a party when they asked Jesus into their hearts a couple of years ago. Of course they all got in an argument about whose piece of cake was the biggest, and mom and dad got frustrated and angry with them, too. I guess Jesus isn't done with us yet!
Richard left with this last team after four weeks here. Sue is back in Haiti after a two week siesta in San Diego with family. The Haitian staff are starting to cycle through their Christmas vacations. We are planning a big Christmas celebration at our house for 200 kids from the village. Cookie has never been more annoying. The “Ti-Riviere Times” has been well-received (click on tab above to download). Everyone here is healthy at the moment. The youth group are all studying for finals. God is good!
Enjoy Your Christmas this Year be it Hot or Cold!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers
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