A Visit from Extreme Response

Last week, we were delighted to host some visitors from Extreme Response.  For any of you who may not be familiar with ER, they partner with us in the States and Canada, executing operations in ways in which we are not able, such as receiving and receipting of donations and managing important details related to supported staff from overseas.  You can visit their website here: http://www.extremeresponse.org.

On Monday, they arrived with our friends Jenny and Djordjy from the House of Hope for a bit of a whirlwind tour to visit their partnering organizations in Haiti.

From left: Dan, Mike, Jenny, Djordjy, and Paul (Not pictured: Tim.  He was the photographer.)

We enjoyed a day and a half of sharing together. On Tuesday, they were able to hear Manis speak from his heart about the history behind Lemuel and the vision that God has given him for this community. Later, we took them on a tour of the area.

After seeing the school in the morning, they returned during the kids' lunch hour to mingle a bit.

The children were thoroughly entertained as they lined up to get their food.

The men offered their services to help wash hands...

...and apparently were required to wash their's too!

 Tim was the photographer in all these photos.  Thankfully, someone caught a great picture of him and Bendji (hamming it up as usual) during our tour of the community.

We are incredibly grateful for the partnership of ER. They carry a tremendous administrative load for us, and are so attentive in their concern for and service to us. Thank you, Extreme Response!

2013 Youth Retreat

You may remember a post from last April about the formation of a youth committee in the church (and then again, you may not, so here's the link!  http://lemuelministries.blogspot.com/2012/04/youth-beach-trip.html). Some of the youth from the church on their own initiative organized themselves into a group called N.O.V.A., which (when translated from the French) stands for a New Orientation Towards the Future.  It has been an incredible blessing to observe them engaging the things that have been poured into them over the years and taking initiative in the church and community.

This year, they undertook the annual youth retreat held during the period of Carnaval (perhaps better known to some of you as Mardi Gras).  They did an excellent job!  How different it was for the administrative staff to play mere advising and supporting roles as these developing young leaders took charge of the planning and executing of the retreat.  Here is a brief re-cap:

The theme of the retreat was about setting and pursuing objectives. For young people, this is quite a popular topic in Haiti. Wilson Cupidon, who started with Lemuel near the beginning as one of its young leaders, spoke to the youth from God's Word about their objectives in life. I don't have a picture of him speaking, but he is seated below holding the microphone while overseeing one of the round table sessions. These round table discussions allowed the youth to ask questions and to dialogue about the things they were learning.

In addition to the Bible study, the youth were privy to the experience and counsel of others on various topics.  Cupidon's wife, Gela, advised them about matters of etiquette when in certain public places and situations.  Petion (who also served as a young leader in Lemuel alongside of Cupidon) gave a discourse about the rights and responsibilities of a citizen.

Besides being a setting for learning and growing spiritually and socially, retreat is FUN!!  There was plenty of joyful singing.

(I edited, re-edited, re-edited and then tried, tried, and tried again all day (literally) to upload a video of this year's theme song.  I'm afraid I must report an epic FAIL.  The internet just would not cooperate.)

There were also a variety of games which provided opportunities for friendly competition between teams. This one is a bit of a classic: A) take the bottom cut off a plastic bottle and fill it with water from a bucket, 

B) run as fast (but as gingerly) as you can to the other end of the field...

...where your teammate is waiting with trepidation, holding a bottle on their head (apparently only the girls were brave enough),

C) pour the water carefully into the bottle. If you think its funny to get your teammate all wet, that wasted water may cost you the game, since the first team to fill the bottle wins!

I had fun teaching them how to play "Four on a Couch." Unfortunately, we had a lot of people (all of whom had never played before) and not enough time, so we never did fill up our couch. However, Agape (pronounced ah-gah-pay...or just "the red team") won with two.

And of course, there is always the highly anticipated soccer tournament.   \

Agape and Lumiere (or "the yellow team") are gearing up for their turn.

Agape was also the winner of this particular match.

Closing night there was special program featuring entertainment by the young people themselves, as well as a quiz competition, which included questions from the retreat's sessions.

Certainly, there were plenty of surprise games and laughter as well.  

Beware of what you volunteer for, or you may end up on the floor... 

Can you guess the scenario?

...or attached by a string to the mouth of another person! The point of this one was to gobble up the string as fast as you could to reach the candy in the middle (no hands, obviously). Much to the relief of many, Wiltha got there first, expertly avoiding any Lady-and-the-Tramp-spaghetti-scene moments.

Manis (representing Lemuel) and Samuel (representing the church committee) each offered a few words of encouragement to the youth.

You probably noticed all the kids wearing different colored pinnies. Every year, all the participants in retreat are divided into four teams. Points are awarded due to a variety of reasons, including for behavior and for winning competitions. The team with the most points wins a special honor and prizes. You may have been able to predict that this year it would be Agape.

We praise God for what we see Him doing among the youth. Please pray with us that this momentum would continue, that God would persist in moving in their hearts, stirring up in them a desire to know Him and follow hard after Him. Pray that the Spirit of God would use what was spoken from God's Word during the retreat to produce fruit in their lives.

Pray especially for NOVA. One day, they will be the leaders in this church and community. Please help us in praying that God would not only grow them in maturity, competency, and leadership skills, but that He would also develop in them a true desire to serve and glorify Him, along with humility, love, wisdom and unity.

A Special Offering from the Kids

As previously mentioned, the kids from the church were given an opportunity to participate in the church offering for the windows.  The Saturday before the special concert being held for that purpose (see below), Lemuel hosted a work day on which the kids could come and take part in cleaning up the church and school grounds.  At the end of the day, each received their own offering to put in the basket the next day.  What a great chance it was for them to learn that they too have value and can contribute!

cleaning up the area around the trees planted by the school kids

It seems Wawens may have been given the job of sweeping up debris...

...while others gathered it up in boxes or wheelbarrows.  Their little smiling faces are so precious!

Other members of our staff also lent a helping hand.  

Lenique was there to make sure everyone had a job to do.

Mme Wisly is one of the ever-faithful in these types of events.

 Josaine was also there in preparation for the NOVA youth retreat (more about that soon).

 And of course, there is always time for a little jump rope...

...as well as for kicking around the soccer ball with school teachers Thony and Wilnique.

A Special Church Concert and Offering

Since 2006, the community on the Plateau has been putting money aside to construct a church building.  Year after year, step by step, we saw the foundation laid, the walls go up, the roof raised, the porch poured, and the doors put on.  On February 10, the Plateau church, hosted a special concert.  This event served two purposes.  Primarily, it was to be the occasion for a very special offering to go towards installing the church windows.  Secondly, it kicked off the annual youth retreat organized by NOVA (the church youth committee) over the period of Mardi Gras.  As an added bonus, it served as a special service in which to receive and thank our visitors from Forest Baptist Church.

Judy led the service, reminding all of us that while we strive to construct a beautiful building in which to worship God, the dwelling place He desires above all others is our hearts.

Several people shared their singing talents with us during the concert. The audience participated with the performers by clapping or singing along as we enjoyed songs in English, Creole, and German.

Manis has been working since last summer with a group of four girls in singing and performing.  They were able to present several songs that they have learned.  They did so well!  It is a privilege to see how they have grown and improved over the past year.   

Ready and waiting (aren't they cute?)

Woohoo! We even were able to load a short video so you can hear a bit for yourself!

Wilson Cupidon, who started out with Lemuel in its early years as one of its young leaders, gave a short message using the example of how we would clean our house for the visit of the president to emphasize the importance of having our hearts prepared for the presence of the King of Kings.

Manis shared a few words of exhortation and encouragement for the church.  They have invested and sacrificed to make this building possible, and we praise God for all He has provided.  We thank God too for all of our partners from the US and Canada who have come alongside to give a helping hand when the people of the Plateau could not take the next step alone.  And once again, we pray that the work God is doing on our behalf to raise up the church building would be a mere reflection of what He is doing in our hearts to build us into "a dwelling place for God by the Spirit" (Ephesians 2:22).

Then came the moment for which all the people had been preparing.  Each had received an envelope in which to put a special offering for the church windows.  The aisle was so full, there were traffic jams!

Even the children of the church had a special contribution to make.  A unique work day was held on Saturday in which all the kids could come and participate in jobs around the campus.  They then were given their very own offering to deposit in the box on Sunday.

The church raised around $500 US for the next steps in the construction of the building!  Don't worry, we will have pictures and an update for you soon!

The Continuing Saga of Odd Jobs...

 As a part of the Forest Baptist Church team, Loring Swain was able to spend about two weeks with us on the Plateau.  Being the odd-jobs, handyman type, he was able to address tasks both big and small around the campus.  We have already mentioned the generators...

 ....and the temporary relocation of the kitchen, in which he lent a big helping hand.

One consequence of moving the kitchen was that we lost our water filter.  Loring was able to rig it up outside so that we can still run water through it for drinking.

Apparently, this was part of the process.  Blockage or air bubbles, perhaps. ??

Other helpful tasks he took care of for us include (but are not limited to):

• cutting curtain rods out of re-bar
• hanging said curtain rods
• hanging hardware at Manis and Judy's house                                                                        (This is all in cement walls, by the way.)
• putting screening in windows
• stabilizing the rickety excuse for a table in the guest room in which he slept (Hint: it pays to put wobbly and decrepit things in handymen's rooms.)
• refinishing and varnishing chairs (usurped for doing cement work, and consequently quite unsightly)
• fixing our ridiculously ineffective silverware organizer (I know, such a small thing, but it has brought repeated exclamations of elation from Bonita and myself)
• gluing sun-scorched, rock-eaten shoes
• entertaining us with a wide variety of surprising tales

Thanks Loring!  And thanks Forest Baptist Church!