1,2,3...

Author of 1,000 Gifts, Ann Voskamp, has challenged her readers to have 31 days of blessings in the month of October.

Some of you may recall it was a goal of mine to record 1,000 blessings of mine by the end of this year. I will confess, I am a far cry from having this complete. BUT, I do think keeping a list of your blessings is a wonderful discipline.

We are leaving Haiti in a little more than 2 weeks to be with our families through the holidays and continue to raise support for ourselves and Baptist Haiti Mission. I am beyond excited about this special time. Cool temperatures, blue jeans, pumpkin EVERYTHING, time with family...YES PLEASE! It is during this time of excitement over a trip to the states that I am oh so aware of my need to find JOY where I have been placed.

Trey and I are blessed to live in the beautiful country of Haiti and are so thankful for where He has called us to serve. When I discovered Voskamp's 31 days of JOY for the month of October, I knew I needed to jump on the bandwagon and get back out my pen and paper and start counting.

Ann's blog: www.aholyexperience.com, contains a Calendar for October. Each day she gives you a category of gifts to encourage you to think. I am not much of an "abstract thinker." I have enjoyed pushing myself to think a little bit deeper and really see a variety of gifts. I wanted to share them with you below:

Oct. 1 -3 Gifts Orange- *Pumpkin Spice candles and everything Fall! *The birds of paradise and other tropical flowers at bloom in our yard. *An orange frisbee with teeth marks all over it as a result of fun between Trey and Creole (the teeth marks belonging of course to Creole).

Oct. 2 -3 Gifts Falling- *America's Funniest Home Videos, watching how clumsy we can be, it's good to laugh at ourselves! *Watching our little neighbors learn to ride a bike, and knowing one day they will fall no more. *Rain as it hits our tin roof lulling us to sleep night after night.

Oct. 3 -A Gift caught, let-go, and mid-way- *Catching the gift of my Savior and His love for me. *Letting go of my plans for my life and chasing hard after Him to make His name known. *Falling time and time again as I press-onward to find my complete identity in Him.

Oct. 4 -3 Gifts Reaped- *Understanding word for word and having complete conversations with others in Creole (not everyday, but it is happening some). *Living life with my husband and best friend after years of praying and dreaming of him. *A long pony-tail after months of growing out my hair, now it's time for a cut!

Oct. 5 -Gifts Returned- *Skype calls and Facebook messages with my girlfriends. *House projects done for me by Trey, simply because he cares. *Plane tickets to return to America to spend time with family!

Oct. 6 -Gifts Redeemed- *Redeemed how I love to proclaim it! *Redeemed by the blood of the Lamb. *Redeemed, His child and forever I am!

Oct. 7- A Gift baked, stirred, eaten- *Chocolate chip cookies straight from the oven. *Hot chocolate while stirring marshmallow's in with every drink! *Conversation over the dinner table.

Oct. 8- 3 Gifts Prayed For- *A deeper love for my Lord and Savior. *A family that continues to grow. *A heart for the nations...

Oct. 9- 3 Gifts Praised For- *New mercies every morning. *A healthy body that can run and move. *He is God and I am not.

Oct. 10- 3 Hard Eucharisteo, the pursuit to see His blessings- *Miles of ocean between us and others. *Seasons of waiting & uncertainty. *Choosing JOY no matter how I feel.

Oct. 11- Gifts of Change- *The new ME in Christ, putting off the old and putting on the new. *Excitement for my sisters as they live in their college days. *Numerous untold gifts from our "change of address" last year.

Oct. 12- A Gift small, smaller, smallest- *Laughter and "randomosity" that comes from children. *Our small home that fits us just right. *The diamond on my finger that constantly reminds me of the love and commitment of my husband!

Oct. 13- 3 Gifts Read- *Reading Scripture in Creole and understanding. *Blogs of encouragement written by Sisters all over the world. *Messages inside dark chocolate...or maybe better yet simply the chocolate.

It's not too late, you have HALF a month left. Will you join me as I count?

Christmas Creations

Kouri Dèyè (the jewelry project) is now making Christmas ornaments!

Here are some pictures to let you see what the ladies are creating:

 The ornaments are made out of scrap-book like paper.

 

The beads are cut, rolled, glued, and varnished the same as our jewelry.

 

We have 4 main colors.  White & Gold,  Green & Gold, White & Red, Red & White.

 

 

Each ornament is $2.50.  BUT, if you buy today you can have a special discount of 2 ornaments for only $5!

 

In true Kouri Dèyè fashion we also have some ornaments made from cereal boxes:

 

 

These ornaments come in a variety of colors.  They are being sold 4 ornaments for $1.

 

All orders can be sent to: csalter327@gmail.com (yup, that's me!)

 

Look forward to hearing from you and adding some Haitian decor to your Christmas tree this year.

 

Blogs & Shout-Outs!

Below is our most recent blog for the Baptist Haiti Mission website.  Check it out:

John 17:17- “Sanctify them through your word, your word is truth.”

Over 68,000 students are enrolled in Christian schools associated with Baptist Haiti Mission.  Over the past few years BHM has been in the process of developing a Bible Curriculum for these schools.  This curriculum has been uniquely designed to take students through the Scriptures, focusing on the redemptive history throughout the Bible, from 1st grade to 6th grade.  The curriculum includes Bible stories, songs, review questions, memory verses, and other tools that will show the students their need for a Savior.  We are pleased to announce the 1st grade curriculum is complete!

School started in Haiti last week.  We were thrilled to see the books were completed in time for this school year.  Over the next several days the books will be distributed to schools throughout the provinces.  Upon the arrival of the books, a training conference was held for school coordinators.

More than 30 school coordinators gathered at BHM’s conference center to receive training in the teaching of the curriculum.  These coordinators will now return to their districts and train the school teachers.

Each 1st grade teacher will receive a hard back copy of the text book.  Students will receive a workbook that consists of a coloring page which coincides with the story.  The bottom of each coloring page also has the memory verse for each week.  These coloring pages can be taken home and shared with parents and family members.  This will be the perfect opportunity for the Word of God and the skill of literacy to be taken into homes throughout Haiti.  We are excited to have the 1st grade curriculum in print, but we realize the journey is far from complete.

Would you join us as we pray for the distribution of the curriculum.  Pray that over the next several days the books will enter 1st grade classrooms throughout the country.  Pray for the further development of the 2nd – 6th grade curriculum.  This is a large project that will require a great amount of prayer and financial support.  Click here: http://www.bhm.org/give/ if you would be interested in giving to the production of the Bible Curriculum.

Shout Out...

Thank you Susanne White!  Monica and I are enjoying the skirts you made.  We had a very unintentional "twin-day" and even enjoyed a nice powerwalk.  Thinking of you girl!

 

Dinner & a Movie

Hotdogs, friends, and "A Bug's Life"...

These three words are a good summary of our Saturday night.

After quite a full week the missionary staff here at BHM have enjoyed a restful weekend.  Several of the men here decided that last night would be a perfect night for some grillin'.  Of course the ladies did not object.

Each family pitched in to make some side dishes while the men handled the meat.  The Bidwell family opened up their home for all the food, and the festivities began.

Trey loading up his plate with all kids of red meat!

It was the pefect night for a cook-out.  Of course no evening is complete without some post-dinner entertainment.  Trey and Scott put their heads together and we had our very own drive in theatre.  White table cloth and all...

Hanging out after dinner waiting for the movie to begin.

 We watched the Disney movie, "A Bug's Life."  I think it is safe to say the adults enjoyed the movie just as much if not more than the kids.  We enjoyed having a night "outside of the norm."  We are truly thankful we have been blessed with such wonderful neighbors and co-laborers. 

Wednesday 'Wamblins

I know, I know, it has been more than a week since my last post.  But, you know what they say, no news is good news!  I have had every intention of writing but have simply slacked in this area.  So, here are some "wamblings" as to what is going on in our little world...

School is back in Session!  Monday marked the first day of school for Haiti.  BHM has more than 350 christian schools associated with the mission.  We have been working on developing a Bible Curriculum for these schools for quite some time.  We are pleased to announce the 1st grade curriculum is now complete!

Theo Enns, curriculum developer from New Tribes Ministires, traveled to BHM last week to train school coordinators in the use of the new curriculum.  Although this curriculum is complete, over 200 of the teachers books are currently stuck in customs.  Please join us as we pray to have these books released and placed in the schools as soon as possible.

The start of school also means food deliveries are in session.  BHM delivers food to several of our schools in the Child Sponsorship program.  Last week, 4 HUGE trucks delivered 30 tons of food to the Mission...

Trey and several other men worked for hours unloading all the rice and beans that were delivered.  Each bag of rice was a little over 110 pounds!  There is no need to do an exercise dvd for at least one month after that work out.

Wednesday of last week Roger & Judy Sands (new missionaries) received a container filled with items for their home.  Trey left the house at 5 a.m. Wednesday morning to travel to St. Mark to help unload the items from the container.  Due to a variety of "technical difficulties" they did not get home until after 8 p.m.

We are pleased to announce all the items made it to Haiti safe and sound.  One of the valuable items from the container was a push-mower!  We are thankful that Roger and Judy are willing to share, we no longer have to have our grass cut with a machete!

This weekend consisted of some time down at the ocean!  We welcomed a team from New Jersey to the mission on Saturday.  They arranged a picnic and day down at the camp property for Sunday.  We enjoyed swimming and relaxing with precious friends.

Now we are offically through three days of October!  Wowza! Hope you are enjoying the incoming of Fall.  Believe it or not, it's not too hot here right now, so we are celebrating a slight season change as well!  Happy 'Wamblin Wednesday to ya. 

Musical Monday

Happy end of Monday to you!  I don't know if you have had a fantastic day or "just another manic Monday."  Whatever the day held, it was orchestrated by our Lord and He deserves our praise.

I have listened to the song below probably about 10 times today!  I wanted to share it with you.  If it doesn't make you wanna sway back and forth...then you need to listen to it until it does.  Take a deep breath in and enjoy, in Christ we truly have all we need.