Saturday, April 23, 2005

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!

Thursday, April 14, 2005

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!

Siphon Neemy

We just completed our first design project here, soup to nuts. Praise God that it went very well. A Haitian engineer, Neemy, and I worked on the design of an inverted siphon from surveying and calculations to drafting in AutoCAD and translating everything into French. It was a great project, but I have to say that I am not much of a fan of French.

Unfortunately with the completion of the project, Neemy is traveling back to Port-au-Prince to finish a senior project that is required for his diploma. Over the last couple months, we’ve spent quite a bit of time together and have become good friends. I’m sad to see him leave, but hopefully he’ll be back in June.


Engineer Neemy

Last week we had a team here from Valley Bible Church in New Hampshire. Their church has decided to partner with a church here in La Brusse by funding the construction of the pastor’s house. They were a wonderful group, very energetic and positive with an enormous focus on Jesus. They even spent two nights pretty much camping at the church which is about 45 minutes away from the team house (spiders, and cockroaches, and snakes, oh my!). I was very impressed with the way they’ve partnered with the La Brusse church. Pray that the relationship they have with La Brusse will continue to grow.


The Valley Bible Team at La Brusse with Pastor Evance and family

Bruce, Deb, and I leave for Port-au-Prince this weekend for about two weeks. We have a couple conferences and retreats to attend and will be stocking up on some essentials to bring back to the barren northwest. It should be a relaxing and enjoyable time, but please be praying for safety as travel to PaP can sometimes have its complications.

As for me personally, I have been doing very well. I’ve been taking in lots of this beautiful country, been talking with bunches of great Haitian people (creole has been getting better slowly but surely), and have had lots of good time to read. Right now, I’m reading a book that my parents gave me about Dr. Mellon who came to Haiti in the 50’s and started a hospital here. It’s been a good read and has helped to get more insight into Haiti, its culture, and doing development here. Bruce and I are going to start a book/bible study, so that will be good. And I have creole-english lessons with a bunch of guys here twice a week which I hope will turn into a great opportunity to build friendships and talk about Christ (I’m using bible stories as text for teaching English J).

All for now, ciao!


This a pict I took last week of a pump at Gwo Tou that was installed when I was here last August. Do you think these people need water? :)

1st prayer email

if you want to be on my prayer listserv to receive these emails, let me know (bennyg612@hotmail.com)

Hello prayer partners!

my much belated prayer list. I honestly think that Satan has been working to keep me from sending this out. Prayer is essential and I am sorry for not making it more of a priority. Please help keep me accountable if i begin to procastinate in sending out these prayer lists. Thanks!

Ministry prayer requests-

-for the canal/irrigation projects that are being designed and constructed
-for safety from accidents and injuries in the shop yard and at the job sites
-for the pipe repairing work going on at the river
-for unity and repair of relationships among the community development team here
-for Boss Abe and Boss Howrd, that they would come to Christ
-for the bridge project that is in the beginning stages, for wisdom in designing and that God would provide the funding
-that we would find drinking water where water is needed most
-for rain
-for the pastor houses being built at Poste Mertier and La Brusse
-for our trip to Port-au-Prince next week, especially for safety and for relaxation and fellowship at our conference
-for the english-creole language lessons that I have tuesdays and thursdays with some guys here
-that through all the work we do, people would see God's love for them and their need of His salvation
-that we can find transportation for me (possibly a scooter or a motorcycle)

Personal prayer requests

-for close times with God in my morning quiet times
-for the bible/book study that Bruce and I are starting this week
-for oneness of mind with Bruce and humility to submit to his authority
-that I can be sacrificial in my love toward those around me
-for my friendship with Neemy
-for diligence and productivity at night
-for joy at serving God and the Haitian people
-that i may continue to learn Creole
-for wisdom in knowing what to do after the end of this 6 month committment
-for my family, their continued safety and closeness with God

Thank you all so much for your prayers!