Haiti Category
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Moving Celebration!!
Bonswa!! I hope this message finds you all loving life and feeling passionate about the awesome work of the day here in Haiti :). The day for us started extremely early today with a few slight problems and the general difficulties and challenges that will accompany any coordination of people and belongings on this scale. However, I can end this paragraph here as all of those issues were taken care of (admittedly stressfully) but at the end of the day they were still taken care of and we celebrated with over 100 deaf people today as they received the papers and keys for their new homes!! I was greeted once again this morning with excited and warm embraces at the deaf community as everyone prepared to load a large bus and travel to Leveque (the site of the new homes) for the celebration. We arrived at Leveque after a somewhat cramped bus ride to be greeted by many good friends and supporters of the project. However, all eyes were on the deaf community and their new chance at life. The deaf were greeted with a little bit of curiosity by the hearing residents of the community, ...
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The Night Before
I hope this post finds you all loving life and engaged in adventures that make your heart race! I just returned from the deaf community for one last meeting with the leaders to coordinate transportation and clarify all details for our travels together tomorrow. Many people once again came up with incredible embraces and obvious excitement over a chance to sign papers for a new and permanent home tomorrow. Follow along on this blog each day this week as I will be writing progress reports at the end of each day. Many of our partners on the deaf community project are now in Haiti for the celebration tomorrow including Manu, Steven and Sandrine from International Deaf Emergency, Yollette and Evelyn from Friends of Deaf Haiti, Butch from Frazer UMC, Kurt from 410 Bridge, and many representatives from Mission of Hope Haiti. It is wonderful that so many passionate people have gathered together in support of this work - we truly see the manifestation of 1 Peter 410 (the verse that inspired the name of 410 Bridge). Which states, “Each one should user whatever gift he has received to serve others. Faithfully administering God’s grace in ...
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Deaf Community Visits their New Homes!
Bonswa!! Greetings from Port au Prince Haiti. I hope this post finds you all doing well and loving life wherever you may be. I write to you tonight at the end of a very long couple of weeks during which I experienced many days of leaving home in the pre dawn gloom, only to return from work to a dinner many hours cold. Fatigued, sometimes frustrated, and always working hard, please allow me the opportunity to share with you tonight the kinds of relationships and experiences that make every mere hardship melt away into overwhelming joy that uplifts a tired body and mind. On Saturday a bus full of people from the deaf community traveled to Leveque to view the new homes they will be moving into on February 7th. Many families had requested this visit before the big move as there are understandable fears and anxieties surrounding what will be a major life change for them. The bus arrived and over 70 deaf people exited the bus at the site of the first 50 new homes for their community. Within a few seconds many were running ...
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Excitement for the Move
Bonswa!! I hope this post finds you all doing well and loving life. For my midwestern family and friends, I am a little jealous of the snowfall you are currently receiving as I was home for almost a month and did not have a single chance to cross country ski or engage in any fun winter sports (other than my regular runs through the woods). What a week it has been with the deaf community. I know, I start off so many posts with statements like that, but over and over we find ourselves meeting amazingly passionate people who want to be involved, and I personally find myself even more indescribably blessed to be engaging in life everyday with people who are growing and taking up a massive challenge in a pursuit of new lives for themselves. It is so hard to sit here and try to write blog posts of a reasonable length as I everyday feel that even the most talented writer (and I am definitely not that) would have trouble articulating these experiences. With that said - onward with an attempt. . . We have ...
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The Earthquake Anniversary – Always Hoping in Haiti
Bonswa! I hope this post finds you doing well and loving life wherever you may be. I am happy to write to you today from Haiti at the end of an extremely busy first week back after the holidays. I traveled straight to the deaf community from the airport on Monday morning and felt my heart uplifted and warmed by an incredible welcome from many people in the community and the usual train of children who chase my motorcycle for a few hundred yards. After big hugs of welcome back to the community several people laughed and commented that I had returned to Haiti much bigger than when I had left (giggling and using the hand motions for a bigger size, describing my face and my belly). I guess that is a sign of a good holiday with family and friends in the Chicago suburbs. On Monday we enjoyed many hours of time spent catching up, joking and casting vision for the next six months. A vision team also traveled to spend monday and tuesday viewing the project and getting to know the deaf leaders. Similar to anyone who has traveled to the ...
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Looking towards the New Year!!
Bonswa!! Greetings once again from the Chicago Suburbs. I write to you tonight a couple of days after our busy yet delightful Holiday festivities. I hope this post finds you all loving life and still enjoying time with good friends and family in this holiday season. It is snowing outside right now which means I must always follow my winter running rule - “when it is snowing late at night, I must get into my warm running gear and head out for a few miles in the woods.” In just a few more days I will no longer have the luxury of bundling up and heading out for a cold run in the middle of the night, so I will continue to take advantage of all of these quiet and snowy nights. So far this has been a very good Holiday break for me as I have been able to spend many hours around the fire with good friends, many early mornings and good books near a fire at Starbucks, great nights of conversation, movies, and games with family - to name just a few of our endeavors over the last couple of weeks. We ...
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The Importance of Storytelling
Bonjou!! Greetings from chilly Naperville, Illinois. I hope this post finds you all preparing for the holidays with your families and enjoying some time of relaxation together amidst the hustle and bustle of the season. I write to you today from a favorite coffee shop near my home in the Chicago suburbs. As I am home for the holiday season and spending many hours sharing stories with family and close friends, I have felt blessed for a chance to reflect on the first phase of our work together in Haiti. Many of you who know me know that storytelling and the sharing of fun adventures is one of my favorite endeavors in life - whether at the coffee shop, pub, at home around the fire, or at various remote locations around the world, I think the sharing of stories reminds us of the amazing stories that we are living. . . or could be living. As I am back in American culture and observing the activities around me I am reminded of the blessed purity of life that I experienced for long stints in the Himalayas of India and Nepal and the jungles of the ...
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Reflections On My First Months
Bonswa!! I hope this post finds you all loving life and looking forward to the holidays with family and friends. I write to you all tonight from the balcony of the Children’s Home where I currently reside. The stars are bright on a cloudless night and the Friday night noise of Port au Prince seems to surround us on all sides. I am heading home to Naperville, Illinois tomorrow in order to spend the holidays with my family and I must say that I am very excited for a short break and the festivity/energy that only time with family can bring. As I sit here tonight after a great day with the deaf community I am drawn to reflection regarding the last several months. In short, I can only say that it has been quite a ride. Frequently I look around me or just sit back and soak in a meeting with leaders in the deaf community that is taking place in a temporary wooden shelter on the outskirts of the most dangerous slum in the Western Hemisphere. I moved down here several months ago anticipating a crazy ride and many new challenges that come ...
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New Life in the Deaf Community!
Bonjou!! I write to you all early this morning at the start of another beautiful week in Haiti. The sun is just rising and I am actually in a long sleeve shirt in the pre-dawn chill (a little preparation for my travels to the midwest in 2 weeks!!). I hope this post finds you all loving life and finding fun winter adventures together. This week in the deaf community we added a new regular class to our educational programs that already include leadership training, 2 Bible studies, sign language for children, English for children and adults, music in Kreyol, English and Sign Language, and our various times of crazy fitness competitions :). This week we added a class for new mothers!! At the end of October, members of a team from 410 Bridge conducted a class for expectant mothers covering a lot of important information for the excited expectant mothers. Ending the class, the women on the team explained that they would like all of the expectant mothers to take time in relaxation and find some small measure of peace. The team proceeded to bring out basins of water, soaps and moisturizer to wash and massage the aching feet of the Haitian ...
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Holiday Field Trip
Bonswa!! I hope this post finds you all loving life with great friends and grand adventures. I write to you tonight at the end of a very busy but phenomenal week in Haiti. We are as busy as ever writing grants, implementing education programs, planning for trips, building homes, conducting meetings, learning languages and many other endeavors that ensure I go to bed very tired at the end of each day!! A good feeling. The week finished with a beautiful trip up the mountains to a historic site called Fort Jacques. Friday the 18th was a national holiday here in Haiti and many of the leaders of the deaf community coordinated a little field trip to take in the celebration of thousands of people up on the mountain. The leaders graciously invited me to come along for the day and I happily accepted. Well, I showed up on friday morning to travel in true Haitian style, in a tap-tap bus (old and very colorful trucks now being used as public transportation). In America my guess would be that we would complain about being cramped if more than 8 ...
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Photo Mission
Bonswa!! I write to you all tonight during a beautiful sunset after a great day of work in the deaf community. As always I hope this message finds you all in the midst of adventures that make your heart race! Last week a team from Frazer United Methodist Church came to conduct a photo mission trip in the deaf community in order to capture family photos. In short, it was a wonderful week filled with a lot of laughter, great community, and an incredible relational dynamic between the team and hundreds of members of the deaf community. Once again we witness how true fellowship and a mutual interest in the stories of people from different cultures can transcend cultural and language barriers. Many members of the team had limited sign language at their command, but that rarely mattered as our professional photographers showed families their beautiful photos and shared simply that they are beautiful and that Jesus loves them. If I had to come up with one major theme of the week it would be laughter together. Many of the families and households broke out in infectious giggles as they viewed their photos and ...
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Awesome Story
Bonswa!! I hope this post finds you all loving life and finding great adventures that may scare you a little - This post is slightly different than my usual writings as today I want to share the incredible story of a remarkable person with you. While living in Haiti I have been blessed to meet and work with some amazing people who have overcome the types of challenges that most of us cannot even imagine. It is truly an honor and a privilege to work with this man on a daily basis and to have the opportunity to learn from one another. As many of you know, sharing life stories and collecting the stories of the amazing people I have met while traveling the world is a passion of mine. In Haiti, many of the stories I hear and share with people revolve around an indescribable and beautiful hope in the face of immeasurable heartbreak and tragedy. The people I spend everyday with in the deaf community embody the virtue of hope and service of one another. The first of many remarkable stories I hope to share on this blog, here is your introduction to 26 year old leader of the ...
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Encouragement in the US
Bonswa!! I hope this message finds you all doing well and loving life amidst grand adventures. I write to you today after a very busy but productive 6 days in the US. I flew into Atlanta last Wednesday to prepare for a meeting of several partners in the deaf community project on October 28th. It was wonderful to sit down with so many people who are passionate about working with the deaf community in Haiti. Other than 410 Bridge who ran the meeting, we had representatives from Frazer UMC (the major church partner on the deaf community project), Mission of Hope (the new partner that has made so much of our progress possible), International Deaf Emergency (IDE), Friends of Deaf Haiti, and the Foster Freiss Family Foundation. Everyone has thus far been incredibly generous with their time, efforts and resources and I look forward to our continued work together. It is great to be a part of a group of people who definitely would not have been brought together outside of a love for the deaf community in Haiti. The rest of my time in the states was spent in Montgomery, ...
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Provision and Challenges
Bonswa! I hope this post finds you loving life amidst some amazing and challenging adventures. Things continue to go well here in Haiti and it seems that my most common thought remains, “this cannot possibly be real life...” I should clarify that this thought almost always comes up in response to beautiful and challenging experiences down here that leave me in awe of provision and interesting people. Admittedly, I experience occasional low points and a heaviness of heart that is usually fleeting. These low points are to be expected in a journey in which I am far from home, incredibly challenged, and often isolated in a place where I spend my days speaking two languages I am still learning and working alongside people that are incredible but still much different than me in the scope of our lives. Overall, these challenges provide for a wonderful adventure, but that does not mean they won’t occasionally weigh on my heart. On sunday I took a true sabbath and enjoyed a joyride around Port au Prince, ate a solid meal at a nice restaurant, and read most of a good book at a quiet spot. I still left ...
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Teaching Languages With Music
Bonjou!! As always I wish you the continued experience of the abundant grace and peace of our Reigning King! I hope this message finds you loving life and pursuing grand adventures. Several weeks ago, the National Sign Language Choir was formed in our deaf community and the adults have continued to practice and enjoy singing together on a regular basis. After observing the passion with which so many of the adults are engaging in their project it has been on my heart to start a choir with the children of the community. Most of the children in the deaf community are hearing and love to sing. With this in mind we started a new children’s choir last week with the intentions of using their excitement to begin teaching them two new languages (english and sign language) using song. For this post I want to share with you a recent entry from my personal journal - here it is . . . “Dako - (ok) onto the endeavor that was pretty much the highlight of my day everyday this week - music and worship with the kids!!! I ...
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Competition Transcending Culture!
Bonswa! I hope this post finds you loving life and living grand adventures wherever you may be. It has been too long since my last post and I apologize for the delay. We have been extremely busy down here over the last few weeks. I promise to post often over the next week in order to catch you up on everything that has occurred recently. Last week I was privileged to spend 7 days with a team from Frazer United Methodist Church that came down to work in the deaf community and engage in fellowship with the great people there. I have other stories from the week but I first wanted to write about one of the coolest instances of transcending cultural barriers that I have ever experienced. The story begins when Sid Ogden, a team member who was experiencing back problems grabbed a rafter of a temporary shelter in order to stretch out his back. A leader from the deaf community immediately asked, “how many can you do?” Thus began what we will affectionately call “Man-FEST, 2011” in which every young man within the vicinity had to ...
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Leaders Rising to the Occasion
Bonswa!! I hope this message finds you all loving life. I apologize that it has been over a week since my last post, but I am also happy to report that my inability to sit and write for this blog is due to some new incredible partnerships, amazing meetings, and time spent with some “higher ups” from the US who traveled to Haiti to meet with the leaders of the deaf community to notify them of all of the new developments and also to begin answering all of the questions and concerns that are on the minds of the community. For my next post I hope to write just several short paragraphs with all of our new and exciting partnerships and developments with the deaf community. Admittedly, I found myself in tears at several points over the last week in working with the leadership council of the deaf community to prepare them for this meeting. The leaders of the community are eager to learn and continue developing as leaders who I will regularly look to in order to continuously revise goals and the projects aimed at meeting the goals of the deaf ...
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Incredible Support
Bonjou!! I hope this post finds you all loving life. While it has been another good start to the week here in Haiti I want to take this time to write about projects that are going on in the US and that are being run by good friends, family and churches all over the United States. Before beginning this project and a new life down here, many people spoke of how big our plans were and questioned the feasibility of getting anything done. There were others who were confident that communities, families, and the body of the church were key instruments of change and true transformation. I feel privileged to write today about many people who have become mobilized for the sake of our friends in the deaf community. The following examples show us all that each and every gift, talent and resource can be used to serve one another. Pursuing the development of a new library and community learning center, my parents and good friends in Naperville, Illinois set out to inform the administrators, teachers, students and parents of the need ...
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Great Developments
Bonjou! I write to you in the midst of a beautifully chilly dawn here in Haiti. I hope you all are well and finding grand adventures wherever you may be. The last week has been very busy with visits to the deaf community everyday, some long conversations with friends at colleagues at Frazer UMC and 410 Bridge, and a few tremendous storms. Last night I found myself quite content with a hot cup of Haitian coffee in hand after taking my shower in the midst of a terrific storm. It has been a very hot week in Haiti (as expected), but with the arrival of a big storm, we generally also welcome the arrival of much cooler weather. I awoke this morning in the pre-dawn gloom feeling ready for a full day around here at the orphanage with time split between games and fun with the kids, as well as some much needed time to write and reflect on the last week. I am enjoying my time in the deaf community even more this week as our relationships continue ...
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Settling In
Bonswa!! I hope this post finds you all loving life and finding amazing adventures. As I am now wrapping up the first month of this several year journey, I have been reflecting on the nature of many aspects of places we call home. While there is still a lot that can feel isolating in life here in Haiti, I am beginning to feel settled in here which is a great feeling. I have always said that there are very few material aspects of our lives that make us truly feel “comfortable.” In the knowledge and confidence that God is everywhere in His redeemed creation, my level of comfort in a place has always been determined by the people around me and a belief in what we were working for. From a material standpoint I have usually said, “good people, good books and good coffee... are all that we need.” Earlier this evening several long term residents of Haiti and I sat down over dinner to discuss a book titled “Erasing Hell” by Francis Chan (the book review will be ...
