Around the House

We have some new fun features in our yard these days.  First, I would like to introduce you to our very own custom made meat smoker (AKA: Frankenstein)

In the middle of summer, we are definitely missing some good 'ol cook-outs.  Over the past week Trey and Ty took it into their hands to make a smoker for us.  After some time searching they found an old diesel tank and angle iron, with only these few things and a couple tools, Frankenstein was created.  He is almost ready to be put to use, and we are more than ready for some tasty treats!  Frankenstein is not our only "yard art."  We are enjoying some splashes of color as well.

I love having the flowerbeds lining our house filled with colors.  This is the first time I have tried keeping plants, and after one week they are still alive!  I count this a success.

I admit, when it comes to doing projects, I have a very low patience level.  I seem to enjoy immediate results with minimum work.  My lack of patience for planting seedlings led to purchasing flowers that were ready to plant and be seen.  After planting the flowers, the idea of growing seedlings became much more appealing, so, we have some seeds in pots that are growing too!

Setting next to our water cistern we have several pots that we are enjoying.  It is quite exciting to watch and wait, and see how the Lord brings forth the blooming buds...in HIS time.

Psalm 85:12, "The LORD will indeed give what is good and our land will yield its harvest."

When IT Happens

IT has happened.  The moment I have dreaded from the beginning of my blogging journey.  The event I was sure was bound to happen one day.  The dreadful realization of the inevitable.  IT happened today when I was reading a good friends blog.  I saw my blog featured in the right hand column of her page, and under the words Last Updated, it said...

 ONE WEEK AGO!!!

 I am oh so thankful it did not say One Week and ___ Days Ago.  Although some time has passed between my last post, I knew IT would happen one day, I am glad we can now move past this blogging pause.  At risk of making this post way too long retelling from the past several days, I will steal a blogging idea I saw on a friends page (thanks Laura Dawkins) and title this:

Five on Friday

VBS teachers preparing materials.

1. Vacation Bible School training took place on the mission this week for 15 + churches in our area.  I was able to be a small part of some of the training seminars.  It was fun to see the adults pretend to be the kids while others practiced teaching the songs and giving the lessons.  This was the first of many trainings.  It is so excited to think about all those who will be exposed to the gospel this summer.
2.  Ty and Terri, Trey's parents, came to see us last week.  We had a wonderful visit.  There were closets built for a house on the mission, fans installed in our house, and flowers planted in our yard, the Salter's were officially here ;)  We enjoyed their visit and are thankful for them.
3. I am officially making homemade bread, compliments of my mother-in-love, who brought me a bread starter.  Trey and I enjoyed some fresh bread last night with some spaghetti.  It felt like we were dinning at the Olive Garden, minus the amazing salad.
4.  My "Exercise Kick" is still in full swing.  I spoke with a friend on the mission yesterday and they greeted me by saying, "Madam Trey, you are looking big today."  I was shocked!  I have since then learned that looking big is a good thing, and my friend was simply trying to affirm me.  Of course I handled the situation like any rational female would, and came straight home and weighed.  I am pleased to announce the scale has not changed.  My oh my, cultural differences.
5. Kouri Deye, the jewelry project, is going great.  We have 5 ladies now, and SEVERAL others eagerly waiting to join.  I love Tuesday and Thursday mornings at the church.  Pray that the Lord would provide direction and facilities for adding more ladies to the group.  School is finished for the summer, so some ladies are coming with their kids.  I have great helpers when it comes to tagging the jewelry.

Soriah & Naomi "hard at work" at Kouri Deye.

You are officially "caught up."  Here's to never letting IT happen again.

New Website!

There is a lot to learn when you make a move to a new place, especially when you move to a new country!  Throughout the past several months we have been learning A LOT about Haiti and Baptist Haiti Mission.  The ministry of BHM has been in Haiti for more than 60 years.

One of our first big projects upon moving to Haiti was updating the website for Baptist Haiti Mission.  Trey worked tirelessly on the lay out and design of the website.  I helped by writing out a lot of the information for the site.  We are proud to announce the new website is officially up and running!

 www.bhm.org

We would love for you to take some time and explore the website.  As we serve here with BHM we want you all to know about the ministry here and how you can be a part of the work as well.  On the website you will learn about how the mission began, and the current work and purpose we are reaching towards on a daily basis.

Be sure to check out the blog posts at the bottom of the website for up to date articles on special features and daily operations.  Hope you enjoy your surfing!  We look forward to you finding out more and more about this ministry we are blessed to be a part of.

Click on this link below to check it out :)

www.bhm.org 

Go ahead, click on it...

Happy Father's Day

Happy Father's Day to the best Dad I've ever had.

I love you!

Manifestations + Celine Dion = Haiti

5:45 a.m. the alarm clock sounded and we were up and moving for a very eventful Wednesday.  Crossings Ministries (who we worked with in the U.S.) have sent a team of 80+ to serve with Baptist Haiti Missions camp ministry this week.  Trey and I, as well as 3 others from the mission went down to spend the day with some dear friends and take some supplies from the Mission.

It typically takes 2 hours to get to the camp property, today it took us 3 1/2 hours.  After the first hour of our drive we began to pass a lot of stopped vehicles, never a good sign.  We drove forward just a few feet before we realized there was a large blokis (traffic jam) we were approaching due to some manifestations/demonstration that were taking place.

Electricity in Haiti is not dependable.  Most rely on generators and others simply go without anything.  The protestors were demonstrating for more electricity.  They had blocked the only main road for hours, certain to make a scene.

It just so happened that when we stopped and began to think about what our next step should be, we parked right behind a group of Haitians from NY who spoke clear English.  Total God thing if you ask me.

We drove for a little bit in the opposite direction seeking a new path, only to realize it would be at least a 4 hr. drive before we found a route that took us around the demonstration, no thank you!

We had been in touch with friends of ours who were on the other side of the demonstration, seeking to figure out how we could get the supplies to them that the camp needed.  The decision had been made that Trey and Brad would carry the supplies through the blokis, while 3 of us waited at the car.  NOT something I was looking forward to.

The moment the guys began to get out of the car, the vehicles in front of us began to move.  We became excited and slowly moved forward with the leading vehicles.  The streets were clearing up as we were driving through.  We passed several vehicles that had been burned from the night before, and a few frustrated bystanders.

I doubt there will be any more electricity given to the people as a result of these demonstrations.  I can also say, it was an experience to see these events, and I will be okay to not come upon another demonstration for quite some time.

We had a wonderful time at camp this afternoon.  We had a very uneventful drive back home today.  Trey does a fantastic job driving and I am so thankful for his leadership.

Trey helped with a lot of manual work on the property, from generators to fuel lines.  This will be very helpful for the many camps that will be taking place over the next several weeks for students in Haiti.  We enjoyed chatting with friends and hearing all about their time in Haiti so far.

The team from the U.S. is helping with construction projects at camp as well as leading VBS.  I took-off with half of the team this afternoon to participate in VBS.

Relay race balancing washers on tongue depressors

My favorite part of the day took place this afternoon at VBS.  I found myself in a conversation with 3 teenage girls, the next thing I know we had moved outside to talk and the group increased to 7 or more.  I was asked if I could sing Celine Dion, and then we began to sing, "My Heart Will Go On."  

After this beautiful song, I was asked if I knew any Beyonce, let's just say I did not burst out into "Single Ladies."  I quickly changed the conversation and suggested they teach me a song in Creole instead.

 VBS concluded with some tasty snacks and lots of happy students.  Continue to pray for camp this week as the gospel is presented through VBS.  Pray for the work on the property to go smooth in order to provide wonderful, distraction free experiences for the many students who will be a part of camp this summer in Haiti.

Learning to Listen

James 1:19, "Know this, my beloved brothers:  let every person be quick to hear, slow to speak, slow to anger."

At the conclusion of doing Beth Moore's study on James, James 1:19 has continued to stand out to me.  I have always heard it said, "God gave you two ears and one mouth...you should listen more than you speak."  I need at least 10 ears to my one mouth to honestly say that I listen more than I speak, but the fine art of listening is something I want to always improve.

Over these past few days I have discovered that I can learn so much by listening.  Yesterday I had a pretty bad case of the stomach bug and was in our house all day.  I listened to the sound of children playing at school.  I listened to the never ending "street music" from the car horns and people working.  I listened to the roosters that have no clue what time they are supposed to crow, so they do it all day long.  My listening did not just consist of listening to things outside my window...

I "listened" to several girlfriends of mine as I read their blogs online.  I listened to them talk about the work of the Lord in their lives in the U.S., Nepal, India, and the list continues.  I listened to the good moments, and listened to the moments that need to be lifted up in prayer.

Through my time in the Word, I have asked the Lord to truly help me LISTEN.  Oh to simply, "Be still," Psalm 46:10, and LISTEN to the Words of our great God.

LISTEN today.  KOUTE jodi a.

Splashes of Summer

It is beginning to feel a lot like summer in our little Haitian home.  We are SPOILED with wonderful temperatures due to the high elevation where we are in Haiti.  However, as the summer months are upon us, even our house is becoming quite toasty.

The warm weather, schools closing for summer, and groups traveling here to serve while they are on "Summer Break", are keeping things fun here at the mission.  I received some wonderful Picnic cups from my mother-in-law in the mail on Friday.  I have loved drinking my lemonade mixes in these very summer-fabulous glasses!

I even made some BBQ-Chicken legs for dinner last night, as a result of our summer fever.  They may not have been done on a grill, but the lemonade glasses made up for it :)

One Step At a Time

42 Days and Counting.  That is how long I have been away from the world of Facebook.  When I first tallied up the days I thought, "Whoa, 42 days!  That's a long time this is going great!" However as the day has continued I have thought, "Wait, that means 68 days to go!  That's a long time!"  

My Facebook Fast has been quite the journey and I'm sure it will continue to be.  Here are some changes I have noticed so far: 

• I am not as distraught over my "frizzy" hair that is a result of the humidity and Haitian living because I am not comparing myself to pictures of friends in the U.S. who have slightly different conditions.
• I have become much more resourceful with my "free time."  I am reading more: books, magazines, and blogs.  I find my mind enjoys purposeful reading not mindless screen gazing. 
• My mind does not race near as much as it does when I'm in the Facebook world.  I am living in the here and now embracing what God is placing on my plate for the day, not surfing pictures and status updates for hours and walking away from the computer feeling overwhelmed and distracted.

Trey and I went on a hike yesterday with a team from Ohio down to the ravine.  As I walked, I thought a great deal about the journey this "Facebook Fast" is taking me on.  After completing the slippery trail down the mountain side I embraced our break in the valley.  There were lose rocks and very steep slides as we walked to the ravine.  We enjoyed a break at the bottom of the mountain, and of course a photo opp.

 However, according to Newton's laws of motion, "For every action there is an equal and opposite reaction..."  The same is true in the world of hiking, I discovered, "For every downhill slope there is a steep uphill climb..."

 

This is where I find myself today.  The decision has been made and I have walked/scooted/slipped my way through the first part of my Facebook Fast, but the climb is not yet finished.  There were several "roadblocks" that I encountered yesterday on our hike.  When these roadblocks occurred I would have to stop, look around, and discover where I was supposed to place my foot for the next step.

Each time I was truly amazed that there was always a place for me to take the next step.  It often resulted in splashing through some water, sinking in some mud, or simply laughing at my "gracefulness."  The moments I felt stuck, I would look a few feet in front of me and there would be a hand of a friend who had just finished the same path I was walking, eager and ready to pull me through.

My heart praised my Savior as I enjoyed this outting and was so visibly reminded of His faithfulness.  In spite of my failures, He is working through my willing heart.  He is placing others around me to add that extra "pull" when I need it.

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."  Vigilance = alertness, attention, concern...I pray this small step of taking a break from Facebook is an act of paying close attention to my heart and seeking to direct it to my Savior.

May the journey continue!  The climb is still on...roadblocks are expected but victories are anticipated.

-If you are interested in more articles about the influence of Facebook/Pinterest and other media influences check out:  http://www.girltalkhome.com/blog/category/current_series/

I stumbled across these articles a few days ago and have been very encouraged!