Thank you

Dear Friends, Family, and Partners in the Gospel of Jesus Christ,

Grace and peace to you.

As many of you know, I returned safely to United States a little over a week ago on Wednesday the 17th. Thank you all very much for your prayers as I traveled home. While my flights were all smooth and mostly on time, I did have a small problem at the Port-au-Prince airport which could have turned into a big problem if not for your prayers and the help of God (it seems I stayed quite a bit longer in Haiti than you are allowed on a tourist visa). In the end everything turned out fine, and I arrived in Philadelphia safe and sound. A special thank you to those who helped to coordinate my parents’ surprising me at the airport.

To the glory of God and to the credit of your prayers, the time I spent in Haiti was wonderfully successful both in terms of our ministry and in my own personal life. Here are just a few of the praises from my six months there:

-no illnesses, upset stomachs, or injuries
-I was able to learn Creole and communicate effectively with the Haitians I worked with
-over 40 miles of drinking water pipes where surveyed
-a sand-storage dam and an inverted siphon were designed and plans drawn
-safety and relative stability of the country
-hosted and assisted over 10 different American work teams who helped to build roofs, install gutters, assemble benches, and among many other things
-helped to train Neemy, a Haitian engineer, in surveying
-showed the Jesus Film at five different churches to a total of over 1000 people
-I learned more about God as my best friend and comforter

If you want to read more about what went on with my mission while in Haiti, go to www.callmehaiti.blogspot.com. Thank you to all those who prayed, gave financial support, sent encouraging letters and emails, and helped me to prepare for my transition home.

I would continue to covet your prayers as I begin seminary this fall at Westminster Theological Seminary. I will be in Philadelphia for at least three more years to get training in the Bible, church planting, and to seek what God has next for me to do. Please pray for diligence in my studies, that I could find a good part-time job (preferably in engineering), that I would trust God to provide for me financially, and that I could clearly discern what the next call is that God has for me. I would love to talk more with any of you about what God did in Haiti in my 6 months there or anything else, so please do not hesitate to contact me via email, telephone, or snail mail.

“for ‘Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? And how can they preach unless they are sent?” Romans 10:14-15

Thank you for sending me. It truly was a blessing.

Yours in Christ,

Ben Gustafson


Good-bye!

My Last Few Days

My time in Haiti was coming to a close, so I made a couple visits to see some friends before I left. unfortunately I'm not very good at taking pictures, so i don't have any of some of the guys I was close with (like my survey crew, duh!). here some pictures I did take though.


Gaston, John Walter, and Maize who was one of the main guys on my survey crew (on the left)



Pastor Bernicks and Me (never mind that I look like a psycho)



Engineer Neemy and myself. Neemy came back from finishing his school projects a week before I left.



Boss Aletude, a good friend



The Abdias Family that I lived with for a couple weeks

Creepy Crawlers

Just had to share some of this excitement with you: a montage of the bugs, spiders, and other things of Haiti


careful where you walk while surveying



this guy lived in my kitchen, but I didn't kill him because he ate the cockroaches (of which i have no pictures unfortunately). the really creepy thing about them is that they jump, pretty far too.



another banana spider which was spared because he eats the roaches. you had to shake out your shoes and pants in the morning though in case they decided to take a nap there overnight



this tarantula i found coming out of the shower. I definitely killed him.



While I was depodding these beans, I had the wonderful experience of finding worms in about half of them. The added bonus was squishing the worms to make them pop. you may have to look really hard to see them.



my buddy, the zondolite, who lived in my kitchen for a while until he got caught in a rat trap. they are very good at eating the bugs on your screens at night. it's fun to watch (remember i had no TV).



mr. zondolite again



not really a creepy crawler, but it sure is a funny picture of a donkey :)

The Mad Surveying American

My last month and a half in Haiti was spent hiking through the Haitian country-side surveying over 40 miles of water pipes. It was tough work in the extreme heat, climbing mountains, working long days, and often running out of water. The Haitian guys that worked with me were amazing. They worked without complaining, put up with my impatience, and learned how to understand my broken creole. Sometimes we would leave the shop yard at 7 am, hike some 10 miles, and then return home around 8 at night. It was a very difficult and physically exhausting time and is why I was not very diligent at keeping this blog updated. I was just plain tired!

In the midst of this difficulty, God was very active. He kept us safe and free from sickness (although I did get stung by a scorpion one day, but i got better). The strength that he gave the team of guys I worked with and especially the strength he gave to this white-skinned weakling was amazing. Every day I found encouragement and comfort in the verse "The Sovereign Lord is my strength; he makes my feet like the feet of a deer, he enables me to go on the heights." It was awesome to reflect on how in-control God was of every circumstance and the ability he gave us to climb the mountains we needed to climb. we also had tons of fun and lots of laughs. Good stories to ask me about: Maiz and cold water, the burning coocnuts, and the slow walkin' Isonell.

Now you may ask "why were they surveying all this pipe?" Well, with the information we collected, we hope to put together a plan of the whole water system. This would allow us to analyze how we can make the system better, how we can bring water to new areas, and what parts of the system have critical issues that need to be fixed. Also, the committees in charge of the system need a records of their system in case something breaks 30 years from now and
everybody who helped installed the system is gone. We have collected all the information to put together the plans, but we are still waiting for the necessary AutoCAD software to finish the work. Please pray that God would supply this very expensive software.


Using the survey "gun" with Fre Leotess in the background.


An unauthorized photo of the crazy surveyor.


Engineer Neemy on the survey gun

The Travelling Picture Show

Over the past few years, Bruce (the missionary that I'm working with) has had a vision to be able to show the Jesus Film at the churches and at evangelism events in the area that we work. It has taken a while to get all the pieces together, but this summer everything finally came together. A projector, a dvd/vcr, an amplifier, a large speaker, a microphone, and a whole mess of cords were put into a medium size box and tied down to the back of a four-wheeler. I went to about 5 or 6 different places to show the film, each with its own challenges and successes. On the whole, the Haitians were in awe at seeing the stories of the Bible on "the big screen" in their own language. It was quite a blessing to watch them recognize stories of Jesus healing people, to see them mouthing the words that Jesus was speaking which they had memorized, and to see them all gasp when a big snake comes on the screen to tempt Jesus. Two of the times I showed the film stick out in my mind.

The church at Cabaret was having a week long conference and evangelism/outreach event. I happenned to be staying in the town at the same time to some surveying of the water system there, so one of the nights we decided to show the Jesus Film. There was a short-term team from Florida staying at the church to help with the week's festivities, so they spread the word about a free movie about Jesus being shown. The night came, and we set up all the equipment and the sheet on which we project the movie. Not too many people had come when we started the film, probably between 100-150 people (which is not much for the size of town we were in). After about 15 minutes, I took a walk outside to make sure the generator was running fine and to say a prayer that God would bring the people He wanted to speak to. I came back to the church and the place was packed. Probably about 500 people were packed into this church, not an empty seat to be found. And people were still coming!! By the end , we had throngs of people huddle around doorways, peering in through windows, and just sitting outside where they could listen to the dialogue. Over 700 people came!! it was a huge success and all to the glory of God.

Another night, we had decided to show the film at the church I had been attending in Moulin. I loaded the equipment onto the back of the four-wheeler and the pastor showed up on his mototaxi (like my hog), and we started off toward the church. Off in the distance the sky looked ominous and rained seemed imminent, but in Haiti, it can rain in one valley and in another valley just a few hundred feet away, not a drop could be falling. So we pushed on praying that God would hold off the rain for our arrival at the church and for the showing of the film About halfway to Moulin, the rain came down like a flood. With about 20 minutes left to go, we drove through the hard driving rain barely able to see 20 feet in front of us. The mud was getting pretty bad, and the pastor was barely able to drive on in his moto. About a half mile from the church it looked like we were going to be able to make it, when suddenly my four-wheeler just died. It would not start, and we had to resolve to push it (with all the equipment on the back) the rest of the way through the mud and the rain, over hills and through calf deep pot holes. By the grace of God we arrived, and it appeared that the equipment had not been damaged. After some poking around, we thought maybe it needed some more gas although it appeared to have some left. Since it was still raining hard and we did not think we were going to be able to show the film anymore, we decided to empty the generator of its gas and put it into the four-wheeler. After this ordeal, the four-wheeler still did not start. So I was stuck there with no way to get home. And then the rain stopped. We asked one of the guys with us if people were still going to come to the movie, and he said he thought they would. Just then some people started to show up! So we decided to show the film anyways. But now we had no gas to run the generator to make electricity for all the equipment because we put it all into the four-wheeler!!! So we found a little jug and told a kid to run as fast as he could to the nearest big town (about 45 minutes away) through the ankle deep mud to get a gallon of gas. Off he went, and we began to pray that this would all still work out. We set up all the equipment and were waiting for the gas, when it began to rain again. We cried out "God, do you not want this film to show tonight? We will be faithful in doing all we can and leave the results up to do." Despite the rain (which Haitians loathe to be out in, they never venture out in the rain), about 70 people came and packed out this little church, and the gas came not to long after as well. God completely brought it all together. It's amazing when you get to the end of your rope and abilities and just have to let God work everything out.

Words from my Mama

I love my mama. I hope she doesn't mind my posting this email from her here. She's da' bomb.

>>>>>from my mom, sent 6/17/05<<<<<
I think grace is easier to understand once you become a parent. You know in Romans 8:38-39 where it says that nothing can separate us from the love of God? Nothing my children can do will ever make me stop loving them. There is this strange thing that happens - even before birth- where you instantly love this child inside you. And once it is born, you fall deeply, completely in love with that child. It is truly a gift that God gives to parents and children. In all my years of working OB, it is the most wonderful phenomena to witness.

Now this child will love you one minute, and then say they hate you the next. They will be overtly disobedient, they will say things you wouldn't think possible, and they will even sometimes deliberately hurt you. You will get angry at them and you will be disappointed in them, but you never never stop loving them. They could not ever do something so bad that you quit loving them. There is this unbreakable bond called love that is so strong that nothing...I mean nothing... will ever even dent that bond. In fact they can be the best child in the world and you can't love them more for that either. The love is there in goodness and "badness" and it never changes. I think that is why Jesus' message of love is so powerful and prominent in his ministry. You can do things out of obedience and morality and even Christian ethics, but it will never be as strongly motivating as sincere love. Love really does conquer all. I think you could toss most everything in the Bible out if you only remember one thing "the greatest of these is love". Now if I love my children this much, how much more must God love them and me?? Many nights I sat by the window waiting for you and/or Jill to come home repeating this mantra "God loves them even more that I do. God loves them even more than I do." I can't imagine anyone loving you more than me - so God's love must be unfathomable. God's love is grace - it is a HUGE step above our love.

Even after that explanation there is still this lingering doubt...we all have it. But that is where faith sets in. You decide to believe what you can't understand. It is a difficult concept, but amazingly freeing when you do it.

I know this is still lacking in clarity. I love you for even asking.....
Mom

How much I don't know

In an effort to open up to people, explain what is going on inside my head instead of just listing the events happening in my life, I had written this big long essay about the struggle I was having over entertainment choices (ie music and movies that may not be edifying) and was going to post in on this blog. It started out pretty honest, but about half way through I really started liking what I wrote and thought I sounded pretty spiritual and all that. My intent pretty much changed from telling you all how I feel and what I’m struggling with to telling you all how smart and spiritual I am. I have a tendency to do that, so if I do the same here, I apologize in advance.

I have been amazed lately at how little I understand, especially about God. I have a very overactive conscious, and tend to act out of guilt and try to earn God’s love. For example, last night I was feeling especially guilty about all the music I had on my computer that I "stole." Most of it I had downloaded during the days of Napster or had copied from the CD collections of friends and family. I started thinking about how it was really stealing and how I need to be faithful in the small things as well as the big things. I literally stayed up for hours, laying in my bed pondering over whether I should erase all this music in an effort to “cleanse” myself. I fell asleep with a knot in my stomach. When I woke up this morning (around 5 am), I had some lingering pangs of guilt, so I tried to get over that by reading the book of Matthew in the Bible. That didn’t help much, so after about 10 minutes of not really reading, I just laid in my bed and felt guilty. Finally I got up and got my computer, the whole time saying to myself, “Am I really going to do this?, this is ridiculous.” I took my laptop into my bed and have just spent the last 2 hours erasing every piece of music off my computer and iPod that I did not buy or was not given to me (I justify having copied music that was given to me because it was a gift, and how can I throw away something someone has given to me?). The whole time I was doing this I was praying that it would be out of obedience to God and not out of guilt. But it was completely out of guilt.

When I finished, I expected this wave of relief to come over me, that I would reach a higher plain and understand God at a whole new level. Yeah, that didn’t happen. I still felt/feel guilty. Now I feel guilty about having music that other people copied and gave to me. How ridiculous is this.

I know in my head that God loves me no matter what. His love for me will never change because of anything I do, good or bad. But in my heart I think that is a load of crap. I think that if I don’t erase all my music, God is going to hide His face from me and withhold His love from me. So I feign obedience to “get a cookie.”

If someone could explain grace to me, I would really appreciate it, because there is something that I am missing.

Sincerely,

Your very spiritual, very righteous, and oh-so ever foolish missionary

The Blue Crew

After returning from surveying in Cabaret, a team from Virginia came in for a 10 day stay. The three teenagers are Jeff’s children and Bill is a chemical engineering grad student at UVA.


The team before they left the states. From left to right, Bill, Jeff, Deborah, Marie, and

These guys worked their butts off and built 12 school benches! The typical Haitian bench is built out of a half a piece of wood and two nails and when ten kids cram on one bench it is nothing more than a safety hazard. So nice sturdy school benches like these last a long time and really help the kids concentrate and learn more in school. It is our prayer that every child that sits in one of these benches would come to know Christ as their Saviour.




Building the benches




Painting the benches


The finished product hot off the factory floor and ready for delivery

One day, we took a break from building benches to help pour a concrete floor at the church in La Brusse.


The old church, now used as a school building


The new church


The concrete is mixed by hand outside the building.


Then it is passed along in buckets to be placed in the floor. As a side note, check out my stylish red hat.


Nearly Completed


The partially completed floor and two delivered benches on Sunday at La Brusse.


Our reward for a hard weeks work, a day at the beach!!


The great picture of the town near where we go to the beach, Be De Mustique, which is where Columbus landed in 1492.

Here’s a couple pictures of yours truly in action:


"come on, Ben, you can make it" I think I can, I think I can



David and I gearing up to go to church at Moulin. Some may consider it courage while others utter stupidity, but David rode with me on the hog to go visit a small church on sunday while the rest of his family went safely in the truck to church at Poste Metier.


The glasses are authentic Elvis sunglasses sent from Graceland, compliments of Julie and Jamie. Yes, I wear them all the time.

Haitian Livin'

The last week in May I went to live with Abdias (one of the guys that works with us) and his family in Cabaret for three days while I surveyed a water system. Talk about a blessing. I hadn’t been able to see what the day to day life of a Haitian family is like, especially since everyone always seems to act a little different when the “blan” or white guy is around. So on Tuesday night, I packed up my survey equipment, grabbed three days worth of clothes and a couple gallons of drinking water and Bruce dropped me off in Cabaret.

Abdias lives with his wife (Madam Abdias), his son (Abdial) in a nice concrete block house with a tin roof. Also, a daughter of a friend (Jessi) is staying with them while she attends high school in Cabaret; this is very common since there are not very many high schools and they are often far from where families live. They graciously moved everyone into their big bedroom so that I could have their second bedroom (Jessi’s room I think) all to myself.

First thing that struck me was how much work Haitian do just to live everyday. The women (assisted by Madam Abdias’ mom for the first day), cooked, cleaned, washed clothes, etc. every minute of the day! I am not exaggerating. Everyday food has to be bought (because there is no refrigeration available), prepared from scratch, and cooked over charcoal stove. This is hard work and takes more than three hours to prepare the big meal for each day. Can you imagine kneeling over a charcoal stove for 3 hours when the temp is over 95˚ in the shade. Then there are dishes to be done and clothes to be washed, and since most Haitians only have a couple sets of clothes, wash has to be done constantly. The Abdias family is better off than most so they are among the blessed few that have a private water connection in their yard. Otherwise they would have to walk a couple miles to get all the water they would need for cooking, cleaning, and bathing.

The food I ate there was amazing. We had viyon fri (fried steak), pòt tomat (a oily tomato sauce), sauce pwa nwa (black bean sauce), banans (plantains), spaghetti (which was served for breakfast), sitwon (limeade), and a great bonbon dessert every night. I went to bed with a full stomach every night.

After the sun went down, we moved out onto the front porch and visited with friends as they came by to chat. In the cool of the evening is the time when Haitians take some time to relax, socialize, and laugh a lot. My creole has gotten better, so I was able to participate in some of the conversations, but mostly I just sat back and took it all in. Abdias has a tv and vcr (which is powered by a battery and solar panel with enough electricity for ~3 hours), so a couple of the nights, we watched a Haitian movie. The movie was in French, but it had English subtitles fortunately, or actually unfortunately. While I’m no film critic, I would give the Haitian movies a definite two thumbs down. I would liken them a soap opera made with a home video camera with the actors reading off of cue cards (you could see their eyes moving back and forth). Both nights, I turned in after about an hour of the movie to get a good night’s sleep.

The survey work that we did during the day was difficult but went very well. While walking 6 miles in the heat of the day with loads of equipment is very tiring, it is an amazing way to see this beautiful country. It’s also great exercise! I’ve never though too much of surveying, but recently God has given me a better attitude about it. I’ve been enjoying it more, which is good because I have a lot of surveying left to do in the couple months I have left.

Unfortunately I forgot my camara, so I have no pictures of the Abdias family, the house I stayed in, or the beautiful sunsets. Fortunately I will be going back to stay with them for another three days to complete the work we started. Next time I will be sure to bring my camara!

The Best News

So I’m thinking that I’ve written a lot of notes, stories, and thoughts so far on this blog, but I’m not sure I’ve said what’s most important. It’s really the best news.

First I want to start with the bad news. I am a sinner. In the short 25 years I have been alive, I have cheated, lied, stolen, lusted, been sexually impure, drank, hated, used God’s name in vain, and more. My sin completely ruined my life. It separated me from the very source of goodness and joy. My sin separated me from the one who created me and gives all life. I separated myself from God; a separation that ultimately leads to death. There was nothing I could do to close this separation. I could not go to church enough; I could not do enough good; I even could not come to Haiti and drill enough wells for dying people. Like if you take a bowl of clean water and add a few small drops of red dye, the whole bowl turns red. No matter how much more water I add, the water will still be red. I can not make up for my sins by doing good.

Now the best news! Because God loves me so much, He made a way for the gap between Him and me to be closed. Not by my good works, but by his. Jesus came to this earth and lived the perfect life that I could not live. Not only did He live the life that I could not live, but then He died my death so that I do not have to die! All sin leads to death. So Jesus, who was without sin, took my sin upon himself and died. Then He destroyed death, eternal death, by raising himself from the dead! He offers me his life, perfect, without sin, and free from death, in exchange for mine, which is imperfect and destined for death. All I have to do is accept his gift and believe in him. A simple prayer: God, I recognize I am a sinner and that I can not do enough good to erase my sin. I believe in you, Jesus, ask for your forgiveness, and give you my life in exchange for yours.

Believe IN him not OF him. For a while I think I was confused about the difference. Belief of God is recognizing that there is a god. Belief in God is trusting him with my life. The best way I came to understand the difference is this: My neighbor pulls up in his driveway in a brand new fire-red Ferrari, and I, stunned, ask him where and how he got that beautiful car. He excitedly tells me that the car dealer down the road is giving them away in exchange for whatever car you bring in, regardless of condition. I laugh and ask him where and how he really got the car. Again he says that the car dealer down the road is really giving them away. Now if I actually believe that what my neighbor says is true, I would be in my car and driving to that dealership as fast as I possibly can. True belief inspires action. Even the devil believes that God exists, but he doesn’t believe in or put his trust in God.

My relationship with God is the most important thing in my life. He has forgiven me and not because of good things I’ve done. It was his decision and his power that freely gave me my “brand new fire-red Ferrari.” All I had to do was to accept his gift of salvation and give him my life in return. And it is in response to his gift to me that I seek and desire to do good. My actions do not produce my salvation; they are a production of my salvation.

Exchanging a broken life of sin and death for a joyful life of love and eternity is the best news I have ever heard.

May Prayer Letter

Answered prayer and praises-
-no accidents or injuries at the shop or job sites
-pipe repairing work at the river is completed
-some of the unity issues within the community development team are being addressed
-it rained 2 inches the night before we left for PaP, and rained lightly yesterday
-we poured the floor for the pastor's house at Poste Métier on Wednesday
-our journey to PaP very successful, relaxing, and safe. We made it back home resupplied and in one piece.
-I purchased a mototaxi
-my times at night have been much more productive
-Praise God for the awesome boys that I met at an orphanage in Pap and that many of them are Christians
-Thank you God for all the blessings that you have poured out into my life!

Ministry Prayer Requests-
-endurance and wisdom as we begin to survey all the water systems in the area
-the speedy and safe completion of the pastor's houses
-wisdom on which design projects to tackle next
-continued prayer for relationships within the community development team
-the salvation of Boss Abe and Boss Howrd
-opportunities to share Christ with people
-"Jehu's Boys," the orphanage that I visited in PaP, that they would experience the love of God
-meetings this next week with Protos, a organization which funds some of our projects
-Work teams that are coming at the end of May and July
-Rain, rain, rain
-the language lessons that I have twice a week. That God would help them to be more consistent and that they would be an opportunity for discipleship and witnessing
-for a dam project, where we are trying to partner with Seattle University
-missionaries Dave and Phyllis as they prepare for their 1 yr furlough
-that this country would turn to God and that those trying to disrupt peace in this country would be stopped

Personal Prayer Requests-
-pray Colossians 3:12-14 for me
-for the ability to memorize scripture
-an increased knowledge of the Creole language and that I can use it for God's glory
-for wisdom and patience in deciding what to do after the end of this 6 months
-for a deeper joy at the wonderful salvation and Saviour I have in Jesus Christ
-my health and safety
-for my family
-the possibility of my dad coming sometime in June
-continued closeness with God
-pray for my Home Team, Prayer Partners, and my wonderful home church COS.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. It is so important that people pray in order to recognize that it is God's power which brings about all good for His glory alone. As someone recently reminded me, we do not put our faith in prayer, but we put our faith in the One we pray to!

My New Hog

Harry: "Where'd you get that?"

Lloyd: "I traded the van for it back in town--straight up. I get 70 miles to a gallon on this 'hog'"

Harry: "Lloyd, just when I think you can't get any dumber you go and do something like this....and totally redeem yourself!!!"


I bet none of you pictured me a biker guy. Well, take a look at my new set of wheels.




We picked up this bad boy (commonly referred to as a mototaxi) in Gonaives on our trip home from PaP. It’s a Honda Super Cub, 50 cc Std complete with a plastic windshield for my knees and fancy red foot thingies. For any daredevil who’s brave enough to ride along with me.



Look, Mom, safety first! I’m wearing a helmet!

Jehu's Boys

During our week of resupplying, I had the awesome privilege to visit Jehu’s Boys, an orphanage run by a seminary grad named Jehu. I love these boys. They were all smiles and full of energy. I went with two other missionaries, Cindy and Phyllis, who go every week. Since the boys don’t get much interaction with males, Cindy asked me to lead the study time during my two visits. The first time I shared my testimony and the second time I taught from David and Goliath. It was such a privilege to share and talk with these boys. After study time and singing some worship songs, we played a bunch of games and just hung out. It was mainly a time to love these boys and have fun with them. One of the afternoons we folded origami birds; they seemed got a kick out of that. Below are a bunch of picts of these great kids. The first is a picture of their yard and the orphanage. Be sure to be praying for these boys.



















I also have a great video of these boys singing. I would love to show it to you all when I get home!

Safely Home

We have returned home from the bustling metropolis of Port-au-Prince to quiet village of Passe Catabois (PC). While Our stay in PaP was extended a little as we waited for a new generator to be made ready, it was very enjoyable. After the conclusion of our retreat in the mountains, we stayed at the seminary campus in Bolosse, a neighborhood of PaP. Most of our days in the week following were spent in meetings and resupplying. It was really a bit of an adventure. Gun fire at night was fairly frequent, and you had to call ahead before you went to some place in the city to make sure that there was no trouble. A couple of times our plans had to change do to “manfistations.” Due to the grace of God, we never ran into to trouble and were able to get everything that we needed. We left the seminary on Saturday and went to stay at a mission compound outside the city while we waited for our generator. It was a great time to relax and read.

The generator we took back to PC with us is a huge ton and a quater hunk of metal. We dragged it on a two axle trailer through river and over pot holes the size of my Honda civic. Fortunately we made it all the way to within 3 miles of home before having any problems. Unfortunately we broke one axle, popped a tire, and bent the other axle. We were able to make it home on the one axle going about 1.5 mph and pouring water on the tire that was rubbing against the metal trailer so it didn’t catch on fire. Praise God we made it home safely and with the generator!



A picture of the President’s Palace I took on one of our excursions. Not seen in the picture are the numerous UN tanks and gun-mounted trucks that were in the area.


A beautiful view of PaP from the seminary that we stayed at in Bolosse.



The guys flipping the trailer over in the shop yard to fix the broken axle.

R and R in the AC

Last saturday Bruce, Deb, and I left Passe Catabois and traveled to Port-au-Prince (PaP) for a two week rest and resupply trip. It has been fantastic so far. The first night we stayed in Tetyan just north of PaP at the Global Outreach Mission compound. With a view of the ocean and a constant wind which took the edge off the heat, I was already enjoying our "vacation." For dinner that night we at baby-back ribs. Wow, it was awesome. Don't ask me how they got bbq ribs in Haiti , but I was sure thankful.

The next day we made an uneventul trip through PaP and then continued up the nearby mountains to the Baptist Haiti Mission (BHM). Because of the high elevation, it is naturally cool (in the 60's) and so we call it the "AC." BHM is a little tropical paradise. They actually have GREEN grass because they get a good amount of rain! The first day there we had to just relax, read, write, and catch up on some email. It was great to not have any plans, but to just be. We also visited with one of the missionaries here that Deb is very good friends with, Elsa. Elsa is an Austrian women who is the definition of class. She is the kind of person that just being around her is a blessing.

After our day of rest we had two days of crisis management training with the Vice-president of Crossworld, Larry Sharp, who is also a member of my home church, COS. It was great to see a familiar face, fellowship with the rest of the Crossworld Haiti missionaries, and learn about crisis management. We did one excercise to define what are the primary risks that we face in Haiti and what are the probability that they will happen in the next year. One thing i thought was pretty funny: according to this group of 20 people that have been in Haiti between 10 to 50 years, it was more likely that there will be a civil war in the next year than any one of the 20 people get into a car accident in the next year! If that doesn't speak to the state of this country, i don't know what does. Mom, if you're reading this, DON'T WORRY! i'll be fine :)

After the crisis training we continued our trek up the mountains to a retreat center called "The Lodge." Every year the Crossworld Haiti mission has a retreat in order to fellowship and be challenged by a guest speaker. "The Lodge" is a like a piece of home, surrounded by a pine tree forest. After being here a couple days, you can literally forget that you are in Haiti. It is nice to be able to let your guard down a bit and relax. The speaker has also been awesome. He's really helped to open my eyes to some things that I need to work on in my life. Please pray that God would continue to work in my heart and the hearts of the other missionaries as we learn and fellowship.

Got to go, time for our next session! Love you all!

Montage of Trois Rivieres (Port-de-Paix)

Since we took so many great pictures at Trois Rivieres when the Seattle Team was here, I thought I would share some of them with you all.

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The river study team from Seattle along with all the Haitian guys that helped us survey (except for the guys second from the right, i have no idea who he is). Front row from left: Tom, Mark, Debbie, myself. Back row from left: Claude, Emanuel, Neemy, Abjel, ????, and another guy who's name i can't remember.


River activity at Port-de-Paix on a slow day


Mark, our fearless leader directing traffic


Neemy and I working with the survey equipment.


Beautiful faces followed us wherever we went


And they love it when they can see their picture on a digital camara!


The Three Amigos


What these people can carry on their head is amazing!


Some guys we ran across cutting boards from a tree.


Beautiful Trois Rivieres upstream from Port-de-Paix


Mark and Debbie at the beach on our day off. It was great to relax a bit!