This and that from a good week

Well,  the First Periodic Great Wesleyan Mission Station Cockroach Hunt was hard to beat in the way of compound activities.  But it was just getting the week-end and then the week, started well.

Next, the WISH (West Indies Self Help, headed up by a Global Partners family) folks issued an invitation to their community library to view Rogue One.  Of course, we went!  It was a diverse crowd that helped inaugurate the new ceiling mounted projector, enjoyed the air conditioning and gasped-as-one at the appropriate moments in the film - Canadians, Americans and Haitians.  What a wonder Hollywood Star Wars film makers are!  Larry and I came home and googled the hows and whys of creating visual doubles of movie stars who are no longer living!  Amazing!

And the film wasn't bad, either!

Missionary church is also held in the WISH library, so Sunday night we all gathered there once again for worship, North American style after attending Haitian church that morning.  Several had taken advantage of swimming and snorkeling  at the reef  during the afternoon, so those smart folks had a cooler look and contented demeanor, as they walked into the room.  Special presentation was an end of the school year update on the school kids' work, talents, and unique contributions.  Pastor Wes presented a thoughtful devotion and because it was the last service for one of our families, time was spent praying over the family members in attendance.  It was a good ending to the weekend.


Then, the work week has been full of encouraging events.  Larry introduced the concept of probability to his stat class and was pleasantly surprised that they all seemed to follow him, and feedback was promising.  I had a wonderful surprise in the delivery of a fat ledger book found in a storage unit on the compound - a collection of the station minutes from 1957 to 1975.  A treasure trove for this fledgling historian!

I also got to visit the House of Hope, a Christian home for the aged and infirm with Desirée, an university social work student from Maine who has an internship here this summer.  What a difference from the other "old folks home" we remembered from pictures, which was dark and not well kept, housing dear men and women who loitered in the hall ways and on soiled bed linens.  This was a bright, well-kept house, several bedrooms, a well-planted outer courtyard, solar on the roof and two cisterns to collect water and a view of the sea from the roof.  A place these residents without family members to care for them could take pride in.  These dear people seemed contented; there was a guard at the gate; and a good poi et diri (beans and rice) cook had been hired!   All this through the efforts of a spirited and Spirit-filled woman from California!  "Without a vision, the people perish."  Lynzi hears from the Lord and acts on His leading and He honors her heart!

                          

Then on Thursday, Desirée and I visited the new school founded by our friend Wilnor, here in Anse a Galets.   Wilnor, his wife Brinette and some friends also founded the non-profit called G.A.S., a grassroots organization to provide an education for indigent children.  Four of the sponsored children go to his school; another, the girl we sponsor, is in a school down the road.  It was a great day!  After we checked out his school, we walked down to see Chelda.  It was a wonderful occasion!   It has been 2 1/2 years since I had seen her and, like one would hope, she is growing into a lovely young lady.  I am so grateful to be able to participate in her education.  She is one of the 20 some children who will have a better shot at life because of G.A.S.  The Lord continues to put life into Wilnor's dreams and  plans to provide a better tomorrow for the children of La Gonave.

We also were paid a delightful visit by Paul, who was in Larry's computer class and my English class in 2012.   Sitting in the shade of the new-to-us tiki hut, we caught up in English and creole with him, his wife and daughter, and were grateful for the friendship of this fine man.  He is a teacher at one of the larger private church schools here, preparing students in the 4th grade for the definitive state exam, the outcome of which is the "yea" or "nay" to advancing to the next level in Haitian schools.  

Larry and I were able to bring down LOTS of boy's shorts this trip - collected by a church member at Vintage Church in NC.  Actually, over 200 pounds of them!  The guest house manager is lining up appropriate ways to distribute them to families in the greatest need in this area.  Also, we have contacted some people we know on the island who have involvement with orphanages, etc.  Today, a lovely woman who houses 16 children in a mountain home a distance from our town, came to pick up a couple pair of shorts for each of her boys who live in her orphanage.  It was such a joy to watch her choose carefully for each child, taking the opportunity to select just the right ones.  

Good visits to the mission station from two sets of folks from Wesleyan headquarters in Indiana and a couple of work teams - one from Maine and the other from Pennsylvania - rounded out the busy week.   

Whew!