Thoughts from a Missionary Kid

Joe Geisler

Joe Geisler and his family - Father Rod, Mom Michelle and brothers Ben and Garen - live on LaGonave, just on the other side of the wall from the Wesleyan mission compound in the WISH compound.  Rod heads up WISH - West Indies Self Help - a very productive and useful organization which supplies water to the town of Anse-a-Galet, Haiti and back up power to the Wesleyan area and the hospital, among other functions.  

Joe and I (Marty) were talking one day when we were in Haiti earlier this month about the fact that Joe was almost through with school for the year, that he just had some writing to accomplish and a couple of things.  I mentioned that if he wanted to write a piece about being a MK - missionary kid - I would post it in our Haiti blog.  He mentioned it to his mom and the rest is history!

So …. read and enjoy!

The Pros and Cons of Being a Missionary Kid in Haiti

There are many pros and cons to being a missionary kid in Haiti.  The pros make my life a fun and exciting experience.  The cons set things back a bit, but there are always two pros for every con, sometimes you just have to look for them.  I love being a missionary kid in Haiti because of all the positives.

Sometimes my life in Haiti can be difficult.  One of the cons to being a missionary kid in Haiti is having to learn a new language.    Learning a new language is a very difficult task.  Leaving friends to go to Haiti was also a hard thing to do.  Where I live in Haiti there are no stores with books or movies I like and the ones they have are in French.  My brother is my only classmate so I can’t make friends in the classroom.  To raise money to live in Haiti I had to stand in front of people I didn’t know and speak.  I always messed up somehow in front of large groups of people staring at me.  All my missionary friends have left and new people aren’t coming for a while.  Another hard thing is the people in Haiti have a completely different mindset than me and that can get annoying.  For example,   asking for anything is okay.

Most of the time my life in Haiti is great.  Even though earlier I stated that language learning is a difficulty, one of the pros of being a missionary kid in Haiti is getting to learn a new language.  They say the more languages you know the better because you can talk to more people and it can help you get a job in the future.  You also get to meet new people and make new friends.  Another nice thing is teams of people are often willing to bring in books and movies that we cannot get here.  Because my brother is my only classmate, I usually finish school before lunch.  Then I can be free to do whatever I want to.  Now I have a different place to explore.  There is a completely new culture to learn about.  I get new foods to taste, like legim, a delicious mixture of meat and vegetables on beans and rice.  In Haiti I am also exposed to new diseases, but that is good too because it gives me a stronger immune system.

More pros to being a missionary kid in Haiti involve transportation.  I get to fly to and from Haiti.  Then I get to ride a boat from the main land to the island where I live.  It makes me appreciate how little time things take in the US, like getting a meal from a restaurant. I also get to swim by the coral reefs almost every Sunday.  Living in Haiti, I get to learn about all sorts of new and interesting things like how to fix a motorcycle tire tube without removing the wheel.  One more pro is that the soda has real sugar in it so it tastes better than the soda you get in the US.

There are definitely more pros to being a missionary kid in Haiti than cons.  My life in Haiti is wonderful because God designed it that way.  Living in Haiti is a great benefit to me.  I would rather not live anywhere else.

Finishing up our Spring 2014 Haiti trip

One of our responsibilities in Haiti this trip was to welcome and host the teams that had come to work through the Wesleyan church and other agencies.  This was a pleasure!

The first group came to LaGonave from our neck of the woods.  The Vintage Church team hailed from Randalman, NC and included its pastor Matt Smith and a group of 11 who soon meshed and bonded into a powerhouse group, only in the ways a short term mission team with service on their hearts and love for the Lord Jesus, can.

They worked HARD each morning, overseen and enabled by Larry  - attacking the punch list at the new hospital, demolishing and building up, painting ( and painting some more ) - in the stifling heat with nary a complaint!  In fact, more likely a song and dance!

In the afternoons, Larry and I introduced them to Anse-a-Galets - 

the new Children's Village,

the market,

the saline,

to name just a few of the outings which offered an "up close and personal" look at the town.

After saying good-bye to this great team, we rolled up our sleeves and did some renovating work ourselves -

               cleaning and lining the kitchen drawers, shelves and cupboards 

cleaning and lining the bathroom drawers and shelves

replacing the bathroom window screen, cleaning and repainting the window sill and 

surrounding wall

repairing a leak under the kitchen sink -

all in the apartment where visiting professors for the Nursing School will live.

Last Sunday, we returned to the Ortlip Ministry Center to welcome the final team, getting them acclimated for the week of service they would spend on the island.  

And, then, a day of travel and we were loving being with kids and grands overnight in Charlotte.  An uneventful trip home the next day morphed into a very eventful Wednesday - with the mosquito-borne 

Chikungunya virus full blown in Larry.  Wasn't long before he was down and out with raging temps and extreme join pain.  We knew the CDC treatment protocol - and a quick call to the doc confirmed we were spot on.  But, unlike those in Haiti contending with this sickness, we had the ibuprofen and tylenol, blankets to cope with chills, cool air to cope with fever, a doc at the other end of the phone confirming, educating and encouraging.  He is in the throws of it right now, but fever gone (praise the Lord!) and the rest of the symptoms are peaking and hopefully, will soon dissipate.  Not at all fun, but expecting a full recovery.  

We are thinking about our Haitian friends and others going through this vicious sickness.  We know better how to be praying for them now.

An interesting souvenir from this trip - but one that provides immunity, so Larry won't likely have to go through this again!

Closing this Haiti chapter with thankful hearts 

and new prayer petitions for the people of Haiti. 

Life on the mission station

Larry and I have been spending time re-acclimating to life on La Gonave, and on the Wesleyan mission compound.

Some things haven't changed much:

Ongoing work on the compound - Trimming of a big branch brought workers and onlookers, advisors, and naysayers :)  - and Fr. Joel gets the clearing job done, single-handed!

Hanging the laundry out back to dry in the wonderful Caribbean breezes.

The beautiful flamboyant trees

… and the fragrant plummeria blossoms outside our duplex.

Then, there are the things new to us!

A prime place to sit out of the sun.

The old guest house is gutted - no more kitchen, bedrooms  nor dining room.   The process of turning the building into a public pharmacy and medical storage site is underway.


The work on the hospital "punch list" - those last things that are addressed in any big project, before opening up to the public - is being addressed by Haitian workers and a work team from The Vintage Church in NC.  Another building project at the mission station is the "triplex", which will house missionaries, the MK teacher and the classroom in the fall.








And, the new guest house is just wonderful!  The kitchen equipment that was purchased in South Carolina has made our cooks very happy and two teams tonight totaling forty people have been readily served the tasty Haitian cuisine our cooks are known for!

A little down time for The Vintage Church group after dinner, in the back hall which we hadn't seen before this trip.  A great place to debrief and relax after a full day's work.







Sunday morning found us at the local Wesleyan Church, celebrating Haiti's Mother's Day!  The service was joyful and spirited.  It was good to be there.

Last night, I was able to join the Ladies' Group which meets on Sunday evenings, having begun in 2012.  It was a very nice time of sharing and prayer.  Larry has been able to partake in Toro Time, too - a shade tree gathering of men at the end of the day - to shoot the bull and drink the bull - Toro!

We walked down to the NatCom store this afternoon and bought our wireless internet stick for the computers.  But NOT for the 800 USD the clerk first told us it would cost!  This language thing had us all confused - but finally we straightened it out!  We are good for our time here for $36.00   :)   Because we only had American dollars and he didn't have any American dollars for change, we chalked the extra $4 up to the experience!!

Tomorrow, we will take the NC team out to the Children's Village, on a walk through town and down to the saline - then a visit to the current English classes!

Pictures, anyone?

Wrapping up the retreat news ~

Thankful to work with this great group of folks!

Four families who work on LaGonave, 

two in Port au Prince 

and one in Cap Haitian, 

 one family who is in the process of raising support and hopes to join the team in July, 

were joined by the four gals in pink who provided a great missionary kids program .

On Friday morning, we headed to La Gonave on the Wesleyanna sail boat on calm seas (thank you, Lord!) and spent the week-end getting re-acclimated to life on the Wesleyan mission compound.

More to come …….

And, we are off …...

Monday was a long but - thank the Lord - uneventful day - traveling from Charlotte to Port au Prince, arriving by noon.  We then traveled by car to the Ortlip Center, the Wesleyan ministry center by the sea an hour outside PAP, twelve hours after turning off that alarm at 3:00 am earlier in the day.  After a late lunch, we continued down the highway to the lovely Moulin Sur Mer resort, for the initial sessions of a missionary retreat for fifteen of those serving all over the country, in Port au Prince, Cap Haitien and on La Gonave.

One of the buildings on the site at Moulon sur Mer.

     

Larry and Dan Ervin during a break

Let me explain - we had a three-week window of time to offer in response to the request to be here this trip.  It turned out that the first five days of our availability coincided with the Global Partners retreat  for those on the Haitian mission field.  Thankfully, we were included!  These first sessions have reminded us what great and appropriate support this umbrella organization GP is for Wesleyan missionaries worldwide.



So, we are here and deep into discussions about the joys, challenges and frustrations of serving the Lord in a developing country - and starting this time of our working in Haiti with other Global Partners missionaries, by sharing updates and information from the field and the individual ministries.  Evaluating, planning, strategizing, re-visioning and updating goals.  Bonding.  Appreciating.  Worshipping and Praying.

During a discussion session -

Pwa ak diri  -  Haitian beans and rice - YUM!

Tim Hibschman, Director of Missionary Care,
Global Partners

The necessary evil - mosquito spray!

Rainy season brings afternoon and evening rains.

 Dan and the mango smoothie!  Yes, relaxation is scheduled into the day!

 
And, yes, some things never change!  I washed my hair in cold water this morning and swatted resident mosquitos in our room.

Another day and a half and we will be off across the sea to La Gonave and the work set before us.  We will have a good time of solid challenge, learning, and fellowship under our belts.  Those who have been laboring on the field will have had a good time of R & R, as well.  Our take away has been an effective time of preparation for getting back in the saddle of missionary work, as well as being brought up to date with what's been happening since we left the country last year.

And, thanks be to God, there is much encouraging news!  For example, the training and sending of Haitian missionaries to Africa; leadership training for youth pastors through mentoring and a series of large gatherings of 200+ youth leaders annually for instruction and challenge; the post-earthquake church rebuild nearing completion; new, strong and visionary church leadership in many areas of the country; the La Gonave Wesleyan Nursing School with the opening trimester slated to begin in October.  Most exciting are the new Global Partner missionaries coming to Haiti, bringing needed gifts and talents, to La Gonave and Port au Prince.  …..and there's more in the making….

And, we leave this retreat humbled to have this opportunity to work once more among these people called by God to come alongside the Haitian national Wesleyan church to serve the people of this country.

And, so ... we're off!

Who duh thunk it? We're going back!

Yep - we're heading back to Haiti.  The request of service was made earlier this winter - and that familiar tug on our hearts arose - and, yes, we would pray about it - and yes, we would go!  And the months passed - and the time is nigh - and now, back to the blog we go!

Things are looking familiar around here, too -

The Haiti clothes are on the way into the suitcases …

…along with the mosquito repellent, sunscreen and hand sanitizer ...

… gifts for Haitian students and children

and requests from missionaries and friends!

We're almost ready!    

The countdown has begun! 

We leave Clemson on the 15th for  …

Elizabeth's Suzuki Book 2 piano recital

Hannah's high school graduation and festivities

and
Hannah's last Charlotte Youth Symphony concert...

…and to love on our family one more time before heading south!

Then, Monday, May 19 at 6:00 am, we head to the airport
and the next chapter in

The Haiti Adventure!





If you would like to be added to our prayer email listing, please respond!  We covet your prayers!

The privilege of sponsorship

Dear Family and Friends,  

Many of you have heard or read of the good work that the registered, non-profit G.A.S. (Groupe Action Scolaire) is doing in Haiti among the poorest of the poor in the village of Lataniers, LaGonave.  To those of you who have not - perhaps you can take a minute and read about this organization that Larry and I have the privilege of promoting here in the states at

http://2inlagonave.blogspot.com/2012/09/haitians-helping-haitians-i-like-that.html

... and of the two trips that Larry and I made to Lataniers at

http://2inlagonave.blogspot.com/2012/11/a-day-to-remember.html

http://2inlagonave.blogspot.com/2013/06/return-to-lataniers.html

Also available in word format is the annual financial report and my personal report of a meeting of the G.A.S. committee that Larry and I attended.  Just let me know of your interest and I will send these on, too.

As you can tell, we are pretty excited about presenting this group of amazing Christian Haitian educators and their efforts to enable some of the next generation of Haitians through education.  And, we are hoping that perhaps we can peak your interest in helping with this process.

How can YOU be involved?

Pray for G.A.S. and its chairman, Wilnor St. Louis, and the rest of the coordination committee as they dream and plan!  They are very dependent upon the leadership of the Lord in this endeavor.

Pray for the 15 children who were sponsored this past year, G.A.S.'s first.  Pray that they will know the joy of being a child of God.  Pray that they will do their best in school and will know the joy of learning.

Sponsor a child!  1 full year of school tuition is $50 - $75, according to the grade level of the child.  This year, an opportunity to also provide uniform, school books and materials for each student is an additional $50.  ( Sponsorship is appreciated with or without the uniform!)

Contact us at lmgrimes@bellsouth.net for more details, your questions and to participate!

 Blessings!

 Larry and Marty Grimes

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