Introducing...The Ti-Riviere Times

Family and Friends,

We hope you have enjoyed a wonderful October.  We definitely have had a great month down here in Haiti and look forward to an even better November.  There have been a few cooler days when the high only reached 89 or so.  We're thinking about breaking out the jackets.

Please remember Mission Haiti in your prayers over the next few weeks as we host three mission teams and hope to make a positive impact on our community in so many ways.  We Grimms will need a big dose of energy, health, and perseverance to handle this marathon of ministry.  We won't share a house with the teams like we used to, so that will help us a lot.

In this post we also are excited to introduce "The Ti-Riviere Times" a somewhat true, somewhat fictional, humorous newspaper based on the characters in our village.  If you have visited Ti-Riviere on a mission trip or just followed our blog regularly, this should provide you with a few laughs.  Just click on the little bar below the main picture, dowload the "November 2011" file, and enjoy yourself.  Let us know if it doesn't work for you, either to download or to make you laugh, and we'll give you your money back.  Ha! Ha!

We hope you have had a fun Reformation Day, or Harvest Festival, or Family Fun Night, or Beggar's Night, or whatever you are accustomed to celebrating this time of year.  In Haiti the whole "Halloween" issue is a lot more black and white.  No one pretends it is a fun little party for kids here.  They just call it "The Day of Death (or the dead)."  Many Christians spend the day praying at church. 

We'll try our best to post during the next few weeks, but please forgive us if we get a bit behind.  Be careful as the snows start to come, and enjoy some great family time this November and December.

Happy Adventuring!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers

How Do You Build a House in Haiti?

Family and Friends,

We are quickly approaching the completion of our first calendar year in Haiti as a family. You might remember the whole adventure began last Nov. 9, and it has been quite a ride. This blog is a testament to the variety of challenges we and others in our community have faced in the first year.

One challenge or adventure we haven't written too much about is the fact that most of this past year there has always been at least once major construction project going on around us. During the first two months after we moved here last year a small house was built on the roof of the mission house, right above our heads. For most of the first half of 2011 the orphanage compound, on the other side of our wall, was slowly taking shape. Also, Richard was here for six weeks running his power tools in our yard, and we are looking forward to his return in just 2 weeks!

This year also saw some major construction at three of the schools Mission Haiti directs:

• Completion of several classrooms at the mountain school.
• The beginning of an entirely new school at Toussainte.
• The construction of a new pre-school at Lines School.

Mission Haiti has also funded the construction of some homes, or updates to homes, for extremely poor families in the mountains. Then there was the one-week project of beginning and finishing the famous “Hurricane-proof House” down on the new ALEXIS property. Recently we began the ALEXIS Dormitory, and in the coming months we plan to begin the cooking shed, meeting/eating area, shower/toilet building, classroom, and hopefully the Director House with ALEXIS office and library. You can see that construction has been a major theme here in our first year and will continue into the near future!

What does it take to build a house in Haiti? Right now a second small house is being built on the roof of the Mission House. They are really putting this one together quickly. Unfortunately, they did break through the ceiling trying to attach rebar to the house, but they are planning to fix that little mistake. The process mainly involves cinder blocks, rebar, and a ton of hand-mixed cement. The roof will be a little more complicated, building a frame with wood and covering it with sheets of tin, but these guys look like they could do the cement part of it with their eyes closed.

Below are some of the basic tasks they need to do to make it all come together:

Cutting rebar with hacksaw

Bending rebar against the tree

Laying the blocks...this man is called "Blan" by the other workers because of his slightly lighter skin.  When I am visiting they call us "blan & pi blan"  (white and whiter)

All the piles of sand have to be sifted by hand to get the bigger rocks and gravel out.  After that cement mix is added, plus water, and buckets of cement are hauled up to the roof.

Looking pretty good for morning of Day #2!

It is fun to watch these guys work.  You can begin to discern the hierarchy determining who gets to do what jobs.  When you see one of the younger guys getting a chance at trying something new, it is easy to see how much pride they take in proving themselves. The pay scale is pretty simple, too.  The regular laborers get a set amount per day.  The "bosses" or skilled guys get twice that amount, and the contractor of the whole project gets three times what the everyday laborer gets.  I suppose all of that is somewhat close (in ratio anyway) to what goes on in the US. 

This small house they are building today will have two rooms and a nice porch area, or "gallery" as they call it here.  It will house short-term missionaries (individuals or couples) who come to work here for more than the normal week.  This is probably the same crew who will build the rest of the buildings for ALEXIS, too.  We have been pretty happy with their work so far.  At least they haven't tried to rip us off or anything.  It will be fun to see how they handle a more sophisticated project like the building we will use for the Director's house and the ALEXIS office and library, if we can get the funds donated for that.

May Your Adventure Include Building Something New!

-Grimm Family Adventurers 

Cholera Continues

Family and Friends,

Just wanted to post a quick note to ask all of you to pray for people in Haiti right now for protection from the spread of Cholera.  We have been seeing additional cases in Ti-Rivier, and we hear about more and more being infected in the communities all around us.  Just today Patchouko saw three trucks in a row passing through town filled with people hooked up to IVs, traveling from St. Jean (sort of our county seat) to Les Cayes (sort of our state capital) where the good, international Cholera clinic is located.

Dr. Paul Farmer, a highly respected American health professional who has been working in Haiti for many years, recently called Haiti the most-infected-with-Cholera place on Earth at this time.  Clearly we are in a danger zone where it could kick into a higher gear and really spread rapidly and max-out the facilities available to deal with the disease.   Let's pray that this scenario doesn't play out.

Nurse Sue says we have also been seeing more cases of Malaria lately, about one per day in the clinic.  This is a side effect of rainy season and the increase in the mosquito population. 

We also expect a medical mission team here in about a week, so pray that they will be protected as they come into conatct with all kinds of diseases and infections in the mobile clinics.

All of us in the Mission Haiti compound....staff, missionaries, and kids...are all doing fine.

God Bless,
The Grimms   

Grandma Alleluia Goes Home

Family and Friends,

As all of you who read this blog are aware, our good friend and ministry partner “Kiki” passed away in August at the young age of 45 and some odd months. To put that in perspective, a well-known and well-loved member of our community passed away a few days ago at almost exactly twice his age. She was ninety-one, and her name was “Grandma Alleluia.” Actually, as you could probably guess, that was not her real name. That is only what we lovingly called her. Her real name was Electa Gesneste Erival. She was born on July 18, 1920, and passed away on Oct. 16, 2011.

Grandma Alleluia was a fixture at Ebeneezer Church, and I described her in the original installment of “our church” on this blog. She was well-known for energetically shouting “Alleluia! Alleluia!” and jumping up and down if the preacher made a good point in his sermon, or if she just felt caught up in the power of the Spirit. Sometimes she got completely carried away and couldn't stop shouting “Alleluia!!!”, until finally she had to be gently calmed down by the Pastor. Many people who have visited on mission trips here will remember her vividly.

Sadly, she had a stroke (or something like that, because they use that word for a lot of things here) last week and passed away. I don't know if it is exactly accurate, but I like to picture in my mind that she was at home praying, began shouting “Alleluia! Alleluia!”, had the stroke in the midst of her excitement, passed away instantly, and without skipping a beat found herself in the presence of God doing exactly the same thing she always did on Earth. Wouldn't that be perfect? Isn't that how all of us should go? Especially at the age of 91 and having lived a nice, full life.

Speaking of her nice, full life...I decided it would be worth my time to do a little research and find out more of her story. I didn't make it to the funeral, because it was scheduled at the exact time as we were having church. Later, however, I did some asking around in the village to discover who Grandma Alleluia really was. This afternoon I sat down with Robert, local historian who knows English very well, and got plenty of details and a little history lesson thrown in for free.

Back before Ti-Rivier was known by that name only, the area was divided into several smaller villages or neighborhoods, and the place where Electa grew up was called Capasi. It really isn't too far from where we live, maybe fifteen minutes. In those days (1930s, 40s, 50s) it wasn't uncommon for young Haitian men to go to Cuba for several years to work and make decent money. This was what Romain Erival (Electa's future husband) chose to do. Sometime in the late 1940s he decided to return to Haiti to find someone from home to share his life with. He and Electa got married. I'm not sure of the year, but it had to have been fairly late for a woman to get married in those days.

The fact that they married somewhat older seems to bear out because their children who are still living all seem to be fifty-something or maybe early sixties at the oldest. As an aside, it turns out Grandma Alleluia's son is actually Robert, the half-crazy man who keeps trying to sell the Ebeneezer church building to us. For some reason I never put that together. The problem is the age difference. He seems forty years younger than her, at least, so I always thought he was her grandson. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how her passing plays into that whole ordeal.

Back to the story...

So Romain returned to Ti-Rivier back in the 40s or early 50s and they were married. As the story goes, it was actually his mother, Electa's mother-in-law, who saw the need and began the church. They slapped together some coconut tree branches for walls and began to worship in some other location long forgotten by most people around today. The church grew through the years and at some point Romain, Grandma Alleluia's husband, became the Pastor and leader of the whole thing. It wasn't until their son Matthew (now deceased) established himself in the US and began to send home money that they were able to construct the building we see today. The two houses around that property were built there at that time or shortly after as well.

Romain died somewhere between 5 and 10 years ago, so Electa really wasn't a widow for terribly long. People seem to remember her for being quite the laugher, and someone who would mix with all people from all walks of life and think nothing of it. She might have even laughed at a few off-color jokes in her day, surprising those who thought they knew how a Preacher's wife was supposed to act. She sold meat in the market for a living and enjoyed talking with everyone on the way to the market, throughout the day, and on the way home.

Speaking of going home, that is what she did the other day. She really seemed to have a fire in her heart for worshiping God, and it definitely didn't cool down with age. If it did, I can hardly imagine what she was like several decades ago. You don't see many 90-year-old people around here, so she will be missed by all. The funeral was huge from what I hear, and no doubt many “Alleluias” were formed in the mouths of everyone there, flavored with the sweetness of laughter and the saltiness of tears.

May Your Adventure Cause You to Shout "Alleluia" Today!
-the Grimm Family Adventurers

ALEXIS

Family and Friends,

Just before publishing this blog post we published one about our missionary giving so far this year, which has been solid.  Page down to read that information in the next post on this page.

Is anything really worth attempting in life that isn't impossible in human terms, especially when you are talking about ministry and reaching lost people for Jesus? Shouldn't we undertake great endeavors for God's kingdom that will fail unless He works great miracles and displays his awesome power in the midst of our weaknesses? Don't you agree that we are called to live that way, shunning the trappings of fleshly comforts and false security and the avoidance of risk? We still believe Jesus is calling people today to step out of the boat and walk on water.

It is that approach to ministry and life, combined with the constant affirmations from Scripture, that continues to energize us for the Bible School project. I've never been one to be content living life as it has always been lived. This passionate drive to constantly innovate and try new approaches to ministry has reaped both positive and negative results in our life as a family, but it is a constant part of our story, and God has used this character trait to bring us to this exact moment in time. We feel Mission Haiti is on the brink of something truly remarkable. It is something new and exciting, and yet in many ways it is a return to the way things started, when Jesus first told his followers to “go.”

However, we cannot take any credit for reaching this critical point in the journey. We (the Grimms) are only standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before. My missions professor, Dr. Jay Moon, told us an unforgettable story in class one day. He talked about how his family went to rural Ghana for many years and saw a great deal of fruit from the work of the ministry. Churches were planted, wells were dug, and people were very open to the good news of Jesus. He was thankful to God for these blessings, but only later did he find out that they were the fourth or fifth missionary family to be sent to that area. The previous ones had labored long and hard without seeing much result, and Jay's family benefited from all of that sowing of seeds. Jesus said something similar to his disciples one day. He said, “I have sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:38)

One of those who has gone before and paved the way for us was Kiki. That is why we are so pleased to announce that that Bible School will be named after him and his father, a former pastor of great influence. The full name of the school will be the ALEXIS Ministry Training Center. Here is a excerpt from the student recruitment brochure we are working on:

“ALEXIS”- The Ministry Training Center is named after two people:

Reverend Alexis- A Pastor in Haiti who labored in the fields to support his family, sacrificed so much for his churches, and raised up many young leaders.

Jean Kuisline Alexis- Rev. Alexis' son who served Mission Haiti from the beginning and passed away in the summer of 2011. Known to all as “Kiki”, he became a successful businessman, processing adoptions to USA, Canada, France, and Belgium. He engaged in ministry through his work but also regularly traveled to the remote villages and countryside of Haiti to powerfully share Christ with all people.

If you read the three part series, “Kiki Goes Home”, you will remember that Kiki once attempted something humanly impossible, and he was successful with God's help. He left rural Haiti as a young man and tried to “make it” in the big city of Port-au-Prince. God had a plan for him and directed his path in so many ways, opening doors and allowing him to positively impact so many lives. It is our hope that the ALEXIS Ministry Training Center will help many people follow a similar path and calling, attempting great things for God.

We have been very busy working out all of the details, with the help of Mike and Pam and the Mission Haiti board, of what the ALEXIS MTC program and campus will look like exactly. We are making great strides in that area lately, finishing the documents any institution for higher education needs to have available: brochures, application, student handbook, etc... We are also finishing the budget and putting together plans and strategies for fund raising and recruiting of students and professors.

A ballpark figure for the next 6-8 months will be something like $100,000 we will need to raise for this project. One significant cost will be scholarships for the students, especially those coming to the program from Haiti (see “10 Adventures in 10 Days: #2- Bible School” for our vision about having students come from around the world to join the Haitian students for study, ministry, and fellowship). Though we already have the land paid for, a house for the Resident Director finished, and the money in hand for the dormitory (if we stay under budget), we will continue to raise funds for several smaller building projects like a cooking and storage shed, shower/toilet building, classroom, meeting/eating building, and other items.

There is also another large building project in the planning stages. About half of the 100K we hope to raise will be budgeted for a new house containing the living space for the Ministry Director and his family (the Grimms), the ALEXIS office and library, and room for visiting professors and other guests to the school. We will attempt to make this home wheelchair accessible, which is something fairly unheard of in these parts. It will be exciting for our family to be able to be in the middle of all of the excitement of campus when this project is completed!

So I (Cory) have taken up grant writing as my new hobby. Time will tell whether or not this will bear fruit for the ministry. File that under “humanly impossible” and we'll see what God does! I will also make at least one recruiting/fund raising trip to the US in the coming months. Soon we will publish a detailed brochure explaining all the ways people can help make ALEXIS MTC great through financial partnerships. The whole project is slowly morphing from a dream and a vision into something we can see before our very eyes. The moment when those student show up next September on the freshly finished campus with all of their zeal and energy for the Lord will be almost too much to take. Only God can make this happen, and we believe with all of our hearts He will...for the glory of God, for the honor of Kiki and his dad, and for the thousands who will one day benefit from the ministries yet to be birthed by the future students of ALEXIS.

May God Ask You to Do Something Impossible Today!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers

Brief Financial Update

Family and Friends,

Our missionary financial support has been strong in the third quarter of this year, putting us back on track to make budget, which was a real blessing and an answer to prayer! Two important contributions that helped us a lot were the fundraiser in Herrick, SD, and the decision of Inwood CRC to support us as missionaries. Though we will continue to seek new sources of support from individuals and churches for personal and ministry expenses in the coming year, we feel that our current level of support is a very solid start. In just two months we will complete our second year with Mission Haiti, and your prayers and financial support have helped us so much to make this possible.

In the next post we will talk about some of the planning and fund raising we will be doing for the Bible School in the coming year as well. Below are the numbers for financial giving for this year so far:

               1^st quarter 2011-                      $15,794

               2^nd quarter 2011-                       $5,090
               3^rd quarter 2011-                      $14,902

                               TOTAL                   $35,786

                (after 3^rd quarter 2010)          ($34,500)

God Bless,

The Grimms

Recent Pictures

Family and Friends,

We're getting a strong internet signal today and thought it would be good to attempt to load a few recent pictures of what we have been up to...

Dad and the kids went for a hike...stopping for a break and overlooking the bay with the mountains behind and the clouds above...breathtaking

Posing for a photo on the trail

A distant view of the Bible School property...the beach in the middle of the photo is right in front of the 2 acres on which we are building

Lucy's 10th birthday party!

Each kid gave Lucy a gift and received a piece of candy and a hug in return