Our emotions, feelings and thoughts are a roller
coaster. The past couple weeks have been
quite exhausting and often defeating.
From what we have heard and read the 4-6 month window really sucks! So looking back at the previous weeks (and
knowing we have only been here 2 months) we are not exactly filled with peace
or confidence. Now please hear us, it
has NOT been horrible by any means, but struggles and frustrations have
occurred and many prayers for peace, strength and healing are being lifted up
daily. Sanity and focus is a daily
battle and we ask for you to join with us in prayer. The past few days Jen and I have really felt
the Lord (through some good friends & His word) reminding us that HE is our
mission and how we lead our family is of the utmost importance. So today we sit with a renewed sense of
clarification and focus for our week ahead.
Learning language has been a rather interesting
task. Currently our house is filled with
pieces of tape helping us with our Creole vocabulary. Besides our time with the Lord and our
family, language acquisition is of the highest importance. You cannot effectively and fully minister in
a country unless you can communicate in that country’s language. So with this daunting task, we press on with
a few wins among mostly misses. Maj has
an awesome tutor that he just started with this week. It’s amazing to watch how young minds absorb
language as Jen and I pray for that ability.
Our goal for Major (if we can afford it) is to have 4 Creole classes per
week. We know that if he will commit the
effort then he will be able to integrate within our community and make the
much-needed friendships. Jen and I have a tutor that comes twice a week and we
are learning, but SLOWLY. Overall Jen
and I make a decent entry level Creole communicating team. I feel I have a better overall vocabulary but
she seems to be able to communicate and put together complete thoughts and
sentences. One of our main struggles
with language is finding the committed time each day to study and
practice. Between life in Haiti and our
normal chaos with the kiddos dedicating time to study is a constant
struggle! We are both praying that the
Lord would bless us with a super natural understanding and usage of Creole as
we begin to settle in.
We attempted Haitian church two Sundays ago, and
lets just say it was an experience that we will not partake in again any time
soon. Service started about 8:30 and went to 10:45. No ac, children
crawling in our laps, dripping wet from sweat and no clue about what was going
on! A small win was that we did
recognize 2 songs so that we could sing along and worship! We laugh about
it now but thankful to go back to our Sunday norm. Sundays consist of church online, Sunday
school for the kiddos, and heading to the beach for a restful afternoon.
(The guys in their Sunday best and NO I did NOT wear a suit or a tie! I was lucky to wear a collar, pants and closed toed shoes!)
Today we woke to overcast and COOL skies. No beach today, but the Lord blessed us with
a day that feels like fall; rain and a breeze and the temperature somewhere in
the 80’s. With that, we were able to
enjoy our coffee and do online church without a fan buzzing in our ear. With church under our belt we continued on with
our day with some small projects around the house, some quiet time for the
kiddos (and us) and finished off the afternoon with an intense family Lego
session. So as the rain still falls and
the temp is still cool, today was refreshing and a much needed opportunity to
refuel.
We have had the opportunity to meet another
American missionary living in the town to our East. She has been here on and off for 2 years and
3 months ago married a Haitian. She
comes to Ti Goave often and has started for a prison-feeding program here. Those
in prison in Haiti do not eat unless someone on the outside brings them food so
this is a real ministry opportunity. (Pray for Jen as she has been invited to
go and serve with her.) Jen really wants
to go, but pray God grants her strength and protects her heart and mind as we have
heard it is pretty intense.
For
those of you that want to pray for us specifically here are a few things to
keep on your heart and mind.
- Creole, that it may soak in and that we
may communicate more effectively and freely.
Holy Spirit please feel free to empower us with this gift!
- A steadfast focus on Him and our family. That is our mission and everything else is a
bonus.
- Starting an English class for our
community. How do we start, do we charge so that it comes with a higher
level of commitment and effort, if so how much, how do we use it as a witness?
Also, to get our classroom ready and to find the best curriculum to use for our
neighbors and us.
- There is a concrete slab at the end of
our street that youth (10yr-25yr) meets to play soccer. Can we use this
area as a ministry and how? Jen has the
idea of hotdogs and the Jesus Story Book bible. Pray that God will give
us the clarity and confidence despite the language barrier and not let satan
seep in and tell us this is silly and ridiculous.
- Pray for the hearts and minds of our
family and our students. As two very
different cultures converge we pray for unity regardless of the trials we face
and with our individual tasks at hand.
Lord fill our home with peace, trust, unity and Your presence! Let our home overflow with You!
- For a potential ministry opportunity to
strengthen the students. I am praying
over the possibility of having a young local pastor come in 1 day a week to
work with the guys. This would be an
opportunity for the pastor to earn some extra money for his family and for the
guys to hear the Scripture and be discipled in their native language. Please pray for the finances to cover this
expense and for schedules to align for this pastor and us.
With our heightened emotions today we reflect
on, and are ever so grateful for, our family and friends at home that join with
us in prayer as we miss them and walk through this journey in Haiti!
Sean
