We are trying something new! (And will appreciate your patience as we work out any kinks!) For Christmas this year we are giving away one Haitian Nativity Scene made out of a coconut and clay figures.
In order to not have to open the carefully packaged nativity that we are giving away, I have taken a picture of mine. They are all pretty similar, though the coconuts and details can vary a bit.
Ani holding Baby Jesus to give you an idea of the size of the figures.
All figures are wrapped in banana leaves and are inside the coconut.
So, here is what you do... Write a comment below about your favorite Christmas tradition or memory. If everything works right, Rafflecopter will randomly choose a winner. If everything does not work right, we will put all the names in a hat and pull one out! Looking forward to reading your comments!
This year St. Pauls Church in Monaco raised funds to put the metal roofs on the school building. We have done all the preparatory masonry work and look forward to a team in February who will be helping us get the roofs on.
This past weekend Sam and Petion were at St. Pauls to share with the church how the project is progressing and to thank them for their participation. St Pauls has posted a YouTube video of their report. You can view it at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cn4EQx2BqSs
in all things...
This past week we learned that a very dear friend of ours was kidnapped and then brutally killed near his home in Port-au-Prince. His wife was also shot in the chest but has come through surgery and is recovering.
We are reminded once again of the cost of serving Jesus. May we be counted among the faithful who stand firm till we are carried into His presence.
The staff of Lemuel would like to thank you for ways you have come along side us, prayed for us even when you knew little how to pray. Some have come and encouraged the ministry with their presence. Others have sent notes of encouragement to let us know we are not alone in this. WE ARE GRATEFUL.
May you know Him in great ways through your time of reflecting on His goodness to you.
How do two weeks fly by so quickly? Now I have a lot to catch up on!
The last 15 days have been quite eventful. On Friday the 8th (the day after my last post) I was talking to Krischelle on Skype when I got a call from Manis saying to please come over to the campus as quickly as possible, Sam had cut himself with the electric saw while working on the church porch roof. I grabbed Ani and rushed out the door only to meet with Manis coming to get me on the 4-Wheeler.
I knew it must be pretty bad and was trying to mentally prepare myself. I am not a natural nurse so I was praying that God would help me do whatever I would need to do. I got there to find Sam's finger wrapped tightly with a cloth to slow the bleeding. I was told he had cut off a piece of his finger but I wasn't sure exactly what that meant! How big of a piece???!!! When I unwrapped the cloth I found the he had cut off basically the whole "fingerprint" part of his left pointer. Then James (one of the development guys) walked up with a folded piece of paper which, I was told, held the piece that had been cut off.
I cleaned Sam's finger the best I could and then called mom (a real nurse) to see if it was worth sending him to the clinic to stitch the piece back on. She said it was so I then cleaned the piece of finger as well as I could, put it back in place and taped it down with steri-strips to hold it while he went to the CAM clinic on the 4-Wheeler. I wrapped almost an entire roll of gauze around with the keep it clean and he and Petion headed off for the clinic. By God's grace Sam missed the bone and Bethanie (the wonderful nurse at the clinic) was very hopeful about the piece rejoining with the finger. Isn't the body an amazing thing?!!
Sam continuing work on the church porch roof with his injured finger.
A few days later materials for the school roof arrived! A team will be coming down in February to help us get it on but since Sam and Petion were leaving and would be coming back only a few weeks before the team arrives we went ahead and got the bulk of the materials. I was working on some things at the house when the trucks arrived so Manis ran over to the campus to help them unload and to get some pictures for me. As they were unloading the 2x6s one slipped out of one of the guys' hands and hit James right on the forehead. He crumpled to the ground and for one terrifying second everyone thought he had been killed. Manis yelled for someone to get water and after dousing him, James finally came to. As you can imagine, everyone was quite shaken. In the end James had an awful headache but was otherwise fine. Thank you, Lord!
Unloading the lumber (before the accident). James is in the tan shirt.
By the time the guys finished it was dark. The color of the roofing was a bit of a fiasco as they didn't have enough of the color we had originally chosen, but in the end I really like it :)
All of this has reminded me, though, how much we need to pray, and need your prayers, for safety. Every day things are done here that are dangerous... it is just part of life. Of course as many precautions are taken as possible and everyone tries to be safe... but that fact of the matter is our safety and, more particularly, the safety of our staff is often quite precarious.
On the 15th Sam and Petion flew to Germany. I know they would greatly appreciate your prayers as they will be doing quite a bit of traveling within Europe for speaking engagements.
On the 17th I headed into PauP to meet up with Krischelle and Bonita who were flying back from the US. I had been planning to drive down the following day but when we got up on Sunday Manis said he felt it would be better to leave that morning. There was a strike against the government planed for Monday and no one knew what the roads would be like. I packed as fast as I could and by 9:00 was on the road. Sure enough, the next day the roads were blocked and I would have never been able to get through. Again, Thank you, Lord!
We had a busy time in PauP but all in all things went well and we were able to accomplish all that we needed to. A special thanks to our friends Jenny and Djordjy Compere, Lara Berry and the Broyles family for their help and hospitality!
We got home last night after a long day and an eventful trip and it was GREAT to be home :) I was not able to check my email at all while we were in PauP so please forgive me if you have written to me this week and not heard from me. I will try to catch up soon!
Also within the last two weeks we have been able to triple the cow project participants but that will be a post all its own!
As I mentioned before, Jenna Brill is our intern this year. Her main responsibility is teaching English in the school. She started teaching on Monday and is doing a GREAT job... more on that in a moment... First let me let her introduce herself:
Hey Everyone! I'm so excited to be here working alongside Lemuel! I really enjoy working with children, and I am excited to be starting teaching this week. I am from northern Wisconsin where there is ice and snow for about half the year. It's just a little different than here :) I have three brothers and three sisters, I love music and art, and I enjoy trying new things. I am grateful for the opportunity to be here, and I am looking forward to being pushed out of my comfort zone a little bit and seeing how God will work in my life this coming year. I am praying that His name will be glorified through me!
On Monday I went over to the campus in the morning so I could be there for Jenna's first class and make sure everything was ok. Her first class was the kindergarten and it was so much fun!
The kids were totally engrossed.
Little Woodyoume was mesmerized in the front row...his poor little neck!
Even Isabelle learned "Clap!"
Later in the day she had the Fifth and Sixth Grade...
The fifth grade perfecting the "ah" sound, as in "Sam"
High-fives all around for the Sixth Grade.
In other news from this week, Loring, Marion and Rick all flew out on Saturday. They are GREATLY missed!!!
Marion was Ani's teacher while she was here.
That was such a HUGE help as I was able to have a bit more time to put toward Lemuel stuff.
Rick and Loring were able to get a lot of things fixed... or at least diagnosed... and were a real encouragement to all of us in multiple ways.
I took some pictures of Loring, Marion and Jenna that they could share with their church. I particularly liked this one and thought I'd share it with you... keeping things in perspective :)
Also this week, the water tank returned having been switched over to a new truck. What a blessing this is!!!
Sam leaves next week (ahhhhh!!!! Next week!!!) for Germany. He will be gone for two months so he has been trying to get some things wrapped up, including the porch and depot on the back of the church...
In closing, as I was drinking my coffee this morning (for those of you who know me, you know what kind of a day drinking coffee means I was anticipating:)) the quote on my mug reminded me of where my peace is to come from. I thought we could probably all use this reminder today:
I got this mug at an airport shop on my way to Wisconsin last year.
Although it does not say it in so many words, it is always a reminder to me that the peace God offers His children does not depend on our circumstances.
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:6-7 NIV
Father, as we "present our requests to you"
please grant us your peace that transcends understanding,
that this stressed out, frazzled, tired, volatile world may seek our peace and find You.
