Reaching Haiti For Christ

Direction for our lives

2010-01-31T19:33:00.000-08:00

nixon@haitianchildrenshome.org
joyinhope.org sandra@haitianchildrenshome.org
January 31, 2010

Dearest family and friends,

Greetings in the Name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

We pray that all of you are well and in good spirit.
Nixon and I have had a difficult couple of weeks. They have been trying weeks in that we have desperately wanted to be there for our team, and our loved ones in Haiti but it has been very hard to get there. Many have been able to make it into Haiti but somehow we have not. We have been able raise funds and awareness in the U.S. side. This has been a comfort at a time when we have not been able to get our hands dirty.

Joy In Hope has been doing an excellent job on the ground in Jacmel, Haiti. The staff in Jacmel started the after-earthquake season by finding missing persons. They had emails from dozens of persons unknown to them, asking for help. They were able to find many of these people, alive and well. They then began to get supplies brought to the local hospitals who were attending patients outside. They even were given control of the small airport in Jacmel by the Mayor of the city. During this time Joy In Hope Stateside was able to coordinate planes full of needed food, water, and other medical supplies into Jacmel. It has been an amazing thing.
Joy In Hope is finally able to slow down, doing daily food distribution in the area. They are very tired but encouraged by the work that they have been able to do.

Nixon and I spoke to Whiskey, one of our boys from our Boy’s Home on Wednesday. He and the rest of the boys are in Seguin with their families. They say times are hard right now but their families are alright and Seguin was not devastated like Jacmel or Port Au Prince. Praise the Lord for this. We ask you to please keep our boys and their families in your prayers.

Thank you to everyone who has contributed financially to the relief effort in Jacmel. If some of you have still not contributed, we hope that you will consider doing so. I know some of you are concerned about sending money to countless organizations helping in Haiti at this time and we understand your concerns. We strongly encourage you to give to those organizations that have been in Haiti before the time of the earthquake. These are the organizations that will stay for the long haul of rebuilding lives. Joy In Hope has been in Jacmel, Haiti for five years and have BIG future plans for Haiti. Your money will go to the people if you send money there. We say that with great confidence.

Throughout this tough time, Nixon and I have been keeping busy but have also continued asking for direction from the Lord as to the future. Many of you know that Nixon now has Permanent U.S. resident status. He and I have been looking for avenues for us to continue being in Haiti without having problems with Immigration. Though there are ways to get around this we have decided not to take that road. After much prayer, we feel that God is directing us to not continue to live in Haiti. Due to the chaos in Haiti, school is not expected to start again for the rest of this year and so our boys will keep on with their families. New faces are coming into Haiti and will be there to help with the rebuilding process. Nixon and I plan to still make trips to Haiti and be as involved as we can with the ministry in Jacmel but we will be living in Texas for the time being. It is our hope that we can take supplies as well as teams to Joy In Hope periodically. It is also our desire to keep raising awareness as well as fundraising for Joy In Hope. You all can expect updates on the work being done in Jacmel, just as you’ve always gotten. It has been a hard decision to make but we feel certain that this is the right course.

Thank you all for your support during our years in Haiti. I have been in Haiti for three years now and we have always felt loved and supported. So many of you have supported us financially and we literally could not have lived without your support. Thank you for giving to us in good faith. All funds that have been given to us recently have gone into the Earthquake relief fund for Joy In Hope. These finances will be used to give the people in our area food, water, shelter, as well as medical care. These finances will make a world of difference to the people back in Haiti.

We will be seeing many of you in the coming months and send you all much love. If you have any questions and concerns please call us at (915)861-6059 or send us an email (at the top of this mission moment). You can also keep up with us through our blog on reachinghaitiforchrist.blogspot.com.

All our love,
Sandra and Nixon Altidor(Jer. 29:11)

Miracles-So proud of Joy In Hope

2010-01-20T20:49:00.000-08:00

photos courtesy of Leann Pye;)

Dearest family in Christ,

It is very humbling to see how God has moved mountains in Haiti. The faith of our people on the ground, doing everything they can--the faith of the people (Stateside) who are doing their best to get Joy In Hope what they need in order to help the people. The week began with 75% of the buildings damaged. These were the UN's statistics given mid-week last week,
1,785 homes completely destroyed 4410 homes partially destroyed
87 commercial businesses destroyed
54 schools destroyed
24 hotels destroyed
26 churches destroyed
5730 families displaced

Death count approaching 3,000

Most of the community was sleeping outside, fearful that their homes were damaged. We understand many had ventured indoors when this morning's 6.1 aftershock rocked Jacmel once again. There was no report of anyone hurt in this afterschock.Both of the orphanages as well as our Boy’s Home are in good shape. The Pye's, the Mangine's and the Riegel's dove into all sorts or earthquake relief projects. They did all they can, cleaning out the Rue Petion house, in order to get all the supplies possible in order to help the people of Jacmel(only 25 miles from Port Au Prince). Our understanding is that Hands and Feet Project has been working with them as they have brought all the relief they could to the people of Jacmel. JIH has also been trying to locate missing loved ones from different people in the United States. We have heard all sorts of reports from thankful and relieved relatives in the United States. As the week continued, the North Carolina headquarters for Joy In Hope has been able to make significant connection, getting supplies flown into Jacmel via the Dominican Republic as well as Puerto Rico. Joy In Hope team on the ground have even begun manning the Jacmel airport, directing flights, checking passports, doing crowd control, and even talking to the press. They have even gotten supplies delivered to Christianville, a medical facility in Leogane. They have had their hands full and we are very proud of their efforts there. In Christ's name, they are definitely making a difference.

Our boys are safe and began this crisis time at the Mangine orphanage then joining their families in the mountains of Seguin. Mackenson was in the north of Haiti when the earthquake struck and he is safe. Lucette and her family are safe as well as our beloved elderly folk. All of the people that we were concerned about are safe and being helped. Still, our hearts are sad for those who have lost so many. Nixon's father was checked on by our team on the ground and he and his family are fine. There was significant damage done to his home but we feel better knowing that JIH staff in Jacmel are getting him and the people there so much assistance. Christ is truly shining in Jacmel and hopefully all of Haiti. We Praise God for that.

Nixon and I have remained State-side during this time. We do not know why but we are doing everything we can from here, to raise awareness as well as funds for Joy In Hope so that they may continue in this long rescue and rebuilding effort. Much attention has been drawn to Port Au Prince but areas like Jacmel have had to fight to be helped. We want to help be the voice for the people calling for help in our area. Joy In Hope continues to need your help. It is going to take a long time in order to get the people of Haiti where they need to be.

JOY IN HOPE.ORG

JOY IN HOPE-FACEBOOK JOY IN HOPE

Nixon and I would like to keep busy continuing in the effort to raise funds and awareness for the people of Jacmel, Haiti. Please let us know if you have any connections to platforms where we would be able to speak at. Nixon and I have had the opportunity to do a t.v. interview as well as speak to a few other groups of people. Immanuel School has launched a fundraiser for Joy In Hope. They hope to raise a large amount of money by the first week of February and then that money will go directly to Joy In Hope in order to help the people of Jacmel, Haiti. We want to do as much as we can though, so please spread the word for us.

Nixon and I can be reached at 915-269-4406 or 915-449-0861.

Our flight was scheduled for the 20th of January but planes are not flying into Port Au Prince, we have rescheduled our flight for the 25th of January. Today we called the airline once again and that flight will not go out either. We are exploring the options of flying out to the Dominican Republic and then flying to Jacmel from there but we have to see if that is a possibility. If it is God's will, we hope we will fly out next week.

Please follow our blog at reachinghaitiforchrist for more frequent updates on the amazing things Joy In Hope is doing for Christ in Haiti.

In Him,

Sandra and Nixon Altidor

Jeremiah 29:11

Help is on the Way!

2010-01-16T10:39:00.001-08:00

The Mangine's

Lucette

One of the many collapsed buildings in Jacmel

Hello everyone, I am feeling tired, emotionally drained but we must go on and do what we can from here.

There is good news and bad. I will start with the good.

Crosspointe church, a church in N.C. who greatly supports Joy In Hope in Jacmel has gotten a plane to go from N.C. to Jacmel, through Puerto Rico. That is great news!Medical supplies will get to the people of Jacmel. Pam McKerring, missionary coordinator for the church, is on the plane. She will be delivering medical supplies and then picking up the 3 Mangine kids and then going back to deliver them to their grandparents.

Please pray that all goes well.

http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%253A%252F%252Fbit.ly%252F4nDrK0&h=f463ca3c7083ed32f18f520ea3de8245&ref=mf

I don't know why Nixon and I are not on that plane as well except that God willed it that way. We have to trust the fact that He knows best. He always does and has shown it many times.

Also, I dont have confirmation on this yet but Seguin does not seem to have felt the quake very much. Seguin is the home of 5 of our 6 boys. I hope to hear soon whether their families are well.

Also, Lucette and her family is well. Her house doesn't have anything but a few cracks. God is good!

I am still waiting to hear about our dear elderly friends. I trust that they are fine as well.

My heart broke as I read the statistics on Jacmel. I can't believe what has happened. Jacmel definitely is not the same town that we had left. These are yesterday's UN statistics. Danny Pye and Leann Pye, directors for Joy In Hope in Jacmel, Haiti attended a meeting yesterday.

1,785 homes completely destroyed 4410 homes partially destroyed
87 commercial businesses destroyed
54 schools destroyed
24 hotels destroyed
26 churches destroyed
5730 families displaced

Death count approaching 3,000 (nearly 10%)

-Please keep praying for our people in Haiti.

-Pray that the supplies are delivered and that the children are delivered to their parent in N.C. safely.

-We also pray that you pray for our team on the ground in Jacmel. They need strength, both physically and mentally to keep on doing what they are doing. Danny and Leann Pye, Nick and Gwenn Mangine(who are sending their kids to N.C. today), and Georgette Riegel and her two sons(her husband was in Florida when the earthquake hit).

In Christ,

Sandra and Nixon Altidor

Jer. 29:11

Keep Keeping On

2010-01-15T11:04:00.000-08:00

http://www.KVIA.com/global/video/popup/pop_playerLaunch.asp?vt1=v&clipFormat=flv&clipId1=4459965&at1=News&h1=Haitian family in EP trying to get news from home&flvUri=&partnerclipid=

Hey everyone,
I pasted a map of Haiti so that you all would know where Jacmel is in respect to Port Au Prince. Nixon and I also pasted a link to an interview with abc 7, local news--although it should be seen in parts of New Mexico as well.
We are hopefully making an impact for the people of Jacmel. The world is hearing about Port Au Prince but Jacmel desperately needs help as well. Jacmel is only 25 miles from Port Au Prince but on a normal day, with not so good roads as well as a winding out of the way road through the mountains, driving time is about 3 hours.
As I said yesterday, this is our goal for now, please let us know if you have any connections. If we can get a platform to say a few words on tv, radio, local groups, churches, that would be a blessing to the people of Jacmel, Haiti. There is lots of suffering going on there, needs for meds and food and water, as well as many deaths to report.

Thanks to God we did hear from Mackenson. He is fine, and was in the north of Haiti where the Quake was not felt. Praise the Lord that he is fine. He was encouraged by our amazing JIH team to stay with his family.
The boys are in Seguin, JIH Director sent them with money for transportation as well as help for their families. We are so thankful. Seguin is relatively close to Port Au Prince as well and is high in the mountains. We pray that their families are allright. You can look on the mountains for Seguin. Nixon pinpointed it between Kenscoff and Marigot, under the capital of Port Au Prince.

Our team members on the ground in Port Au Prince are continuing emergency aid efforts and are looking after Haitian staff familie's needs.
Today the team cleaned out our guest house, taking sheets and any supplies that could be found. I wish we could get them those ibuprofen and Tylenol that you folks have collected. God knows.
We recieved a call today regarding Nixon possibly going with an organization into Jacmel from the U.S. That fell through and we trust that God didn't let it happen for a reason. Although I have to say that I was disappointed. Nixon and I are torn that we cannot be there with the people of Haiti.
The team on the ground in Port Au Prince have their hands full but I hope to know more soon about the people of Jacmel's wellbeing. My heart breaks for Lucette and her 4 children as well as for Madam Robert, Lancia's baby boy, and our dear elderly friends. We will know more soon.
Nixon and I learned that there are many dead in Jacmel. We don't have any sort of number to report as of now, nor do we have names.

Nixon's concern rises for civil unrest in the country. He fears that desperation, along with the Haitian government's silence, can cause the people to act foolishly. Please pray that God would keep the people calm.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/cb_haiti_earthquake

We need the money to keep flowing in so I am posting the information as to how to give to the people of Jacmel. Please give what you can.
Joy In Hope
Earthquake Relief - Donate at http://www.joyinhope.org/donate.asp and select "Immediate Needs" (or mail checks to JIH - Earthquake, 2731 NC Hwy 55 #251, Cary, NC 27519) to help provide much needed food and supplies to those affected by today's earthquake.
Praying,
Nixon and Sandra Altidor
Jer. 29:11

Concentrating on what we can

2010-01-14T19:32:00.001-08:00

Dearest friends and family, January 14, 2010
Greetings in the name of our Lord. Nixon and I are doing well. We are trying to keep busy, keeping informed as to what is happening back home and trying to raise awareness as well as funds for our area. We understand that Port is in terrible shape but the surrounding areas were also greatly impacted. Our concern is that the majority of the help will go to Port and the surrounding areas will be the last to get aid. Jacmel, the small city in which we work is in devastated. Our goal right now is to get funds sent over there to help in the relief efforts made to help the city of Jacmel as well as it’s surrounding areas. Here is how you can get funds to Joy In Hope.

Earthquake Relief - Donate at http://www.joyinhope.org/donate.asp and select "Immediate Needs" (or mail checks to JIH - Earthquake, 2731 NC Hwy 55 #251, Cary, NC 27519) to help provide much needed food and supplies to those affected by the earthquake.

Joy In Hope has a facebook page as well.

You can also look on our facebook page to see more pictures or see more updates. Nixon and I have a facebook page-Nixon Altidor as well as a blog: reachinghaitiforchrist.blogspot.com, joyinhopeboyshome.blogspot.com.

It is estimated that 75% of the buildings were damaged, and many are missing. Most of the community is sleeping outside, fearful that their homes were damaged. Our Joy In Hope team on the ground in Jacmel are also sleeping outside. We have no information as to how many are dead or missing. Both of the orphanages as well as our Boy’s Home are in good shape. Our home, in downtown Jacmel, has been closed up because of the risk of collapse. The Pye orphanage, one of the two orphanages under Joy In Hope, was damaged but we think it can be repaired. The Mangine orphanage held up very well.

Our boys spent their first night at the Mangine house, sleeping under the stars. Yesterday morning the boys went up into the mountains of Seguin, about two hours east of Jacmel, in order to check on their own families. Nixon and I expected that. We are a concerned about Mackenson, one of our boys in the Boy’s Home. He was having trouble finding the finances to come down and go back to school so he had not arrived back to Jacmel. We are hoping and praying that Mackenson was in the northern part of Haiti and was not at all affected by the Earthquake. Please keep Mackenson in your prayers.

Nixon was very worried about his father, who lives right outside of the city. After a lot of waiting, our people with Joy In Hope on the ground in Jacmel were able to check on Nixon’s dad, his new wife, and his 6 month old baby boy. Praise the Lord for this. Nixon still has another few brothers that he would like to hear from, on his mother’s side of the family, as well as some friends.

Nixon and I desperately want to be able to get back to Haiti but we just don’t know what we will be able to do at this point. We are scheduled to fly out next Wednesday, the 20th of January. We will just have to wait to see if we can get a flight out at that time. We are thinking we will not be able to take any of the clothing and supplies that we are gathering. Jacmel is a 3 hour drive east of the capital of Port and it will take time for those roads to be passable. We are thinking we might have to backpack it into Jacmel, perhaps by motorcycle. At this point we are not gathering any more supplies or clothing to take back to Haiti. We will get what we have to Haiti, whether in the near future or later future.

Right now our goal is to just spread awareness as to our local needs in Jacmel. If you have any groups or churches that we could share a few words with, please contact us. We can also be reached at 915-449-0861.

Norma Hinojos was interviewed yesterday by abc 7-local news. Nixon and I were interviewed today and it will be airing on abc at 10:00pm. Please spread the word and paste the joy in hope earthquake relief fund information on your facebook. Again, please let us know if we might be able to talk to any group and raise awareness as well as raise funds for the people of Jacmel.

We love you guys and pray blessings on you and your families. And thank you all so much for all your prayers and emails of love and encouragement. From the bottom of our hearts, thanks you. Attached is a picture of Mackenson as well as pictures of Jacmel, Haiti-home to us.
In Him,
Sandra and Nixon Altidor
Jer. 29:11

The Earthquake

2010-01-12T23:08:00.000-08:00

Nixon and I were leaving D.C. with some good friends of ours when we recieved the first email on the earthquake. Panic was my first reaction. Then my mind flooded with questions and worry.
Thanks to the internet we were able to get on facebook and recieve updates from our friends and organization(Joy In Hope) in Jacmel, Haiti.
Everyone is accounted for in Jacmel, Joy In Hope. We know some buildings are down including a hotel--dont know which one. As we have seen, much damage is reported in the Capital. The real shocker is the palace collapsing as well as many other goverment structures. Haiti has suffered a severe blow.
The many countries that are ready to respond are comforting. We know God is present and in control and even now He sees and hears his children crying.
Nixon and I are stunned. We are scheduled to fly out in only a week and momma thanks God that we are not there. Honestly, my feelings are quite different. I just want to be there and comfort my boys and help to do anything that I can. We feel terrible that we are not there. Helplessness is definitely something that we feel.
All we can do is pray and see what we can do for now.
Nixon is worried about his dad, his new wife and their 6 month old baby boy. We are also worried about our very dear elderly. We hope to know how everyone is tomorrow.
We hope to know in the next few days as to our travel plans.
I will keep you all updated. Please keep Joy In Hope in your prayers. Please visit Joyinhope.org in order to make donations or email me for more information.
We arrived in North Carolina about an hour ago and are scheduled to fly out to Texas tomorrow afternoon, unless can be useful to our Stateside office here in N.C.
Praying,
Sandra Altidor

New Mexico

2009-12-31T18:15:00.001-08:00

Yesterday we took a short road trip with our friend Yoli. I love New Mexico. It has a different style, different decor, different people, different feel and the State border is only about 30 minutes away from the west side in El Paso.
Our highlight was a Tiki the Toucan. Nixon spent way too much time talking to him.
We still haven't heard anything about my uncle. My same uncle Martin's son's wife's father was kidnapped yesterday morning. His body was found later the same day. I was watching the news last night and there are so many more found each day.
My heart bleeds for my aunt's family and for all those stuck in the middle of this.

A tough day

2009-12-28T22:24:00.000-08:00

Nixon and I spent the night at my baby sister's house on the other side of town. Since we will be traveling for a couple of weeks, our time is coming to an end in El Paso and we are just trying to spread ourselves out as much as possible. Everyone wants a piece of us.
We stayed up and played Sequence. It was really fun and I remembered our playing with our boys. I miss our boys very much these days.
Almost as soon as we woke up, our morning took a serious turn. My uncle was taken from his family this morning. Mexico's drug war seems to be touching every family that we know. Even those who are not involved have at lease some relative that drags them all into the mess. Nixon and I took some time to pray and we spent the day "being there" for my mom.
It is amazing to think that my mom and I were just at my aunt's house on Christmas day, as is our custom every Christmas day. We have been praying all day and our heart's have been heavy. I constantly remember that we serve a living and active God who hears our prayers. My momma has another brother that is an atheist. He told momma to pray since she knows how to communicate with God. I pray the Lord works a miracle.
We are expecting snow again tomorrow. This would make it the third snow this winter. What a strange winter in the desert.

More pictures

2009-12-04T12:41:00.001-08:00

What a trooper!

My poor little frozen black man!

I can't believe we stood in the freezing cold just for

a picture. The snow was falling thick though,

it was beautiful.

Fourth Day in Texas

2009-12-04T12:12:00.000-08:00

It snowed last night!! Wow!!! We meant to do some work on our upcoming presentation yesterday but we ended up spending the day connecting with old friends of mine and MORE FAMILY! This isn't even 1/3 of the family. How much family do I have? Tomorrow Nixon will start meeting some friends and sponsors.

Anyway, back to my opening statement. It snowed last night and it is cooollldddd!!!!!! The temperature will not get above 40 degrees farenheit and when we left the house this morning it was 29 degrees farenheit. Nixon is doing well, the cold seems to make him giddy. He just laughs and laughs. I, on the otherhand, am very congested and denying the possibility that I now have a light cold. Nixon's stomach is also doing well but I have a bit of Mexican happiness. Go figure!

We are having a great time. I have been working on making the final preparations for our Missionary presentation and Nixon has been entertaining the family kids all morning. He is supposed to start French and Creole lessons with one of my nieces and nephews next week. Fun Fun! I plan to sleep. LOL!!

Day 1 of our trip to the U.S.

2009-12-02T19:41:00.000-08:00

Hello world!
We are in Texas. Since Thanksgiving, things seem to have gone really fast.
We left our house on Monday and left Port on Tuesday morning at 11:00am.
Our flights went well.
We were at customs in Ft. Lauderdale for like 2 hours. Nixon got to translate for Customs which was really cool. He liked doing it. My husband is so amiable, he made friends everywhere we went and of course wearing his Texas Longhorns shirt got him plenty of comments.
We arrived at 11:00pm last night in El Paso and then went to Village Inn. We stayed up really late talking and all but woke up at 7am, after sleeping like 4 hours. We are doing well though, not too out of it.
Today we went grocery shopping, Nixon met my sisters and their kids, ate Mexican food at a Mexican restaurant, had Mexican sweet bread at my sister Cynthia's house, went to see Old Dogs at a really nice theater. Nixon is presently playing video games with his 7 year old nephew Eduardo. Eduardo really likes Nixon.
Nixon is doing well but he is cold. He refuses to drink any cold drinks and defintely avoids ice. He is really having a great time.
Although I surprisingly dont see any culture shock.
We did specifically pray against that though. God is good. Will update more soon.
I am definitely in awe of God's goodness in being able to be here.
We still both feel like it is a dream.

A wonderful Thanksgiving

2009-11-27T09:25:00.000-08:00

We had such a great time yesterday.
We started with a visit to Nixon's dad. Nixon's dad got married last year and has a new baby. That is pretty special since Nixon's dad was only married once (not to Nixon's mother)when he was young only to have his bride die a year later.
Nixon's dad is 65 years old. He has a beautiful 5 month old baby, healthiest Haitian baby I've ever seen.
We then went to visit our elderly group. I took them some coffee and pumpkin soft cookies. They really liked them.
We then went to visit our good friends, Larry and Michelle. Larry's parents were in town so it was a real treat. We ate A LOT!!!!
Then it was rehearsal time for Friday night worship.
And then it was off to Nick and Gwenns for our Joy In Hope Thanksgiving.
It was all delicious! We had great fellowship and Nixon discovered a toy.
He was zapping mosquitos for the LONGEST time! It was hilarious!
We had a wonderful day and now it is back to attacking my "before we leave" list.
Fun Fun. I would actually rather take a nap. :)
Of course I forgot my camera so I have no pictures to post. That really sucks!
Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving.

So much to do

2009-11-23T08:39:00.000-08:00

Even though we had already finished the Creation Series for Junior church I decided to talk about how "it was good" is repeated over and over again after each day of Creation. I ended in telling the kids that when they don't rest properly, they won't see all that is "good". We had fun talking about this but the message was
convicting to me.
Now that we are getting ready to leave for 6-8 weeks, I am very busy preparing for our departure. I am not only figuring out what we need to take. I am also trying to leave everything ready so that the ministry can do what is normall on "our plate". This weekend was more cleaning out and clearly organizing so that out team is not lost when looking for Junior church stuff and the boy's supplies and all.
After Nixon and I arrive in El Paso, we have a presentation to do four days after that. So we are preparing for that as well. And of course I want to spend as much time with our boys as possible before we leave so I don't allow myself to skip out on movie watching, game playing, or devotions.
But yesterday I was dead tired. Even as I am writing this blog I feel exhausted.
This should be a time of excitement and joy and yet I find I am missing out cause I am trying to do to much. That is so strange isn't it? The way we tend to do that is unbelievable. Nixon ordered me, and I mean ordered me, to take a nap after we had a special prayer time with the boys yesterday afternoon. I think I will need one today as well.
What have I learned? God always knows what He is talking about. He really knows what He is talking about when He talks about rest. I don't want to miss anything, especially all the lessons He is trying to teach me. I don't want to miss any of the journey. Ultimately prayer is the only way things will get done and get done well. I love my God's ways. I love Him for all that He is. I especially love Him for teaching me so patiently. Blessed be His Name.

Finally-away we go!!

2009-11-17T14:56:00.000-08:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Drink Water!!!!!!!!!!!

2009-11-10T14:03:00.000-08:00

Nixon and I sat with Rick today, discussing possible basic health presentations that could be brought to Haiti through teams.
A couple of hours later one of my boys came up telling Nixon he wanted some Tylenol because of his headache. Nixon turns and tells me how he always seems to have a headahe. This is actually very true, except for the always(more like often).
When will my boys learn that they NEED TO DRINK WATER!!!!
I asked my boy if he had drank water. It was 3pm and he said, "of course".
"How much?", I asked. "Two whole glasses." "Ay Ay Ay!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
I gave him a Propel packet and told him to find a water bottle and fill it.
Geez Louis!!!

Our beloved Seniors

2009-11-09T11:08:00.000-08:00

Ti Ya Yan's always been Nixon's girl:)

Thanks to our Director, despite the fact that we have only one working vehicle, we were given the truck so we could go visit our Seniors last Tuesday.
Yeah, I am behind on my blog.
Anyway, we had a good visit. A short term mission team had come through and they told me all about their new hats. Although I don't know where they would ever wear them. I am glad they were happy though.
Madam Oraben told us she was not doing good, as she always tells us. Her achy body will continue to be achy for the rest of her life. Ti Ya Yan told us she has heartburn, as she always does. We took her some more pepcid for that though.
Senor Benoz was proud of himself for cutting his own hair. I think he gets tired of waiting for Nixon to have the time to do it. He was happy for his new gillete.
Madam Vilbren was as giddy as usual. They are all too cute.
They were in good spirits since Senor Benoz had led them in their usual church service. The six of them come out on the balcony and Senor Benoz shares Psalms and other verses of scripture he has memorized, they then sing together, interrupting only to pray. When we were at the Village, their services were usually about 3 hours long. I imagine they are the same.
As we were getting ready to leave Ti Ya Yan told Nixon she had been saving something for him. She pulled out about 6 eggs (Haitian and so they were special). She proudly told Nixon she had been saving them for like a month. YIKES!!!
Nixon brought them home and told me not to throw them out since it was so sweet of Ti Ya Yan to save them for him. And I completely agree with him on her sweetness, and thoughtfulness.
I did not throw them out, just gave them away(with a warning that they might not be good). :)
We do love our Seniors. We will always remember how we lived with them and were able to love them on a daily basis. We miss them.

A pleasant Sunday

2009-11-01T19:31:00.000-08:00

Nixon and I started the day with some ample and wonderful time with the Lord.
We had leftovers for lunch and dinner(no cooking necessary).
I downloaded some "podcasts" onto our ipod.
Nixon watched some soccer.
We played a Yahtzee game, I got a triple Yahtzee(Nixon figured there was no point to keep playing after that) LOL!
We watched down below as people filled the street, marching for the day of the dead. (The group has obviously been marching for a while since we could feel the heat ascending from the group below along with malodorous armpit odors.)
We watched Planet Earth with our boys(the boys kept saying, "we don't have that in Haiti" and plenty of "Me Zami!!!". It was pretty funny to watch.
Then I went off to take a shower and head to my cozy bed(where I am presently), as my husband washes the dishes.
(last week he told me he would start washing the dishes on Sunday so I would not have to lift a finger in the kitchen. ISN'T HE WONDERFUL?? Of course he is.)
It has been a pleasant Sunday.
God is good.

Another one of those "where am I?" moments

2009-10-31T20:07:00.000-07:00

I was looking out my window, people watching, a couple of days ago. I actually was looking down as the spinner wrang my load of laundry.
I watched the neighbor's rat run around the yard for a while. I thought the neighbors had finally managed to kill it but with the yard empty, Kiko, decided to come out and sniff around. He is a very healthy looking rat. I watched him run around, wash himself, watched the different holes he climbs in. Don't get me wrong, rats are not my kind of animal, pet, whatever. It is just that I can watch him without worrying since I am watching him from the 3rd story and he is out there while I am in here. That is exactly how it is going to stay. LOL!
Then the neighbors came back and Kiko returned to one of hiding places. I watched the 3 year old boy run around the yard and play with whatever hazardous object he could find. The woman that I think is the child's mother did not pay the child any attention other than to occasionally yell at him. She was preparing the wash tub to wash her "whites". As usual, Haitian women use a white soap to do laundry. It ussually comes in long sticks and they use a knife to cut it into pieces so that it dissolves in the tub of water as they wash the clothes. The little boy picked up the knife as the woman set it down. This knife was "huge". Who knows if it was sharp at all but it did make me cringe. I've worked with children for a long time now and we know that that kind of thing is a NO NO! The mother watched him as he ran around the yard with the giant knife. He set it in the little bench just as the mother sat down. If the knife would of still been pointing up, she would have learned why children should not play with knives.
Yep, it is definitely a different world here. Ay ay ay.

Happy Birthday Elira!

2009-10-24T10:17:00.001-07:00

Make a Smilebox greeting

Watching Joseph

2009-10-24T08:08:00.000-07:00

I've been begging to show a movie for Friday night Church service. We finally did.
The pluses(+):
* It brought in a lot of people. (if you wanna pack the house, in Haiti, show a movie)
*The first half of the movie had some pretty good subjects that every one of us struggle with(jeolousy, anger, hate, temptation)
*I believe people are really looking forward to finishing the movie next week.

The negtives(-)
*Getting the sound to work was a bit tricky so i am glad Nixon started to set up 45 minutes
before church started.
*Some of the film is a bit, YIKES! Remember Potiphar's wife, let's just say this movie really

captures her. Nixon was quick to fast forward Potiphar's wife's naughty behaviour. Though it was a bit heated, i hope that Joseph refusing to sin against the Lord impacted the youth in the audience(everyone, for that matter).

The movie is 180 minutes long, so we only watched the first half (although I am glad we didn't even go a full 2 hours since some of the church was having an all night prayer vigil and I am sure they were ready to get started.)

I think it went very well, I pray the Lord was glorified last night. The movie we saw was Ted Turner's Joseph. It is very well done, if you haven't seen it. Amazon has good prices on this particular Bible Collection. Nixon loves them so we've started collecting them.
So far we have Esther, Joseph, Jeremiah, and Moses.

Time Away

2009-10-20T16:57:00.000-07:00

Our cozy room

Wha a gorgeous setup on the roof

this is a hammock chair and I sat there as I read my book,

sooo comfy!!!

seriously though, what a gorgeous roof!!!!!!

Nixon and I went away for the weekend. Since we need to watch our finances we stayed at a missionary guesthouse. It might not have been the Ritz but it was certainly comfortable and was just what the Doctor ordered.

Nixon and I arrived after having left another beloved team. We then assisted in the picking up of our dear friend Denise, who follows our blog(kisses and hugs to you!). She is here to visit with her family and her dear community(I suspect).

Anyway, we arrived about 3pm Saturday and we took a shower then Nixon had to go out while I took a nap. At dinner we had wonderful conversation with Fritz and Paul from Santa Barbara California, not far from home at all. That was definitely nice. After dinner, Nixon went to sleep early while I watched some tv and read a good book. Saturday afternoon was uneventful but wonderful. Sunday after visiting with some new friends we were invited to a home church. We enjoyed it so much, the people, the message, and the style. One thing I really liked is that the church is made up of missionaries but they do not allow themselves to talk about their work on that day. They don't even allow themselves to ask questions regarding anything about their mission. I think we need that sometimes. Afterwards we had some good conversation with Kathy and Greg regarding the sermon on Judgement and then took a nap. Actually, Nixon watched a movie. I took a nap.

We then walked up to Delma and had a late Haitian lunch at a nice Haitian place followed by Epi Dor ice cream(cookies and cream). I counted my points but went I am sorry to say that I went overboard. We then watched some tv and turned in early.

Monday Nixon left early in order to tend to some business while I slept in a little, had breakfast, did some computer work and then devoured a book I had had my eye on. The book was a civil war diary and extremely interesting. I spent all day up on the roof of the guesthouse. I even took a nap in the hammock. At about 1pm, Nixon came back and then we were on our way back to Jacmel.

As I write about our weekend you would think it all sounds pretty boring. I gotta say that it was a WONDERFUL WEEKEND! (even though I missed our boys, just a little)

David Sang

2009-10-12T10:39:00.000-07:00

"David sang to the Lord the words of this song when the Lord delivered him form the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul.1

"The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer;"

How many times have I read this verse? It is funny how scripture means different things
during different times in our lives. This verse meant so much to me today. Lately I have been remembering George Muller and how he would face some terribly busy days. He would say something like, "I have so much today, I need to pray 3 hours instead of my 2 hours".
And so I have been making it a point to not miss my quiet time with the Lord. I am so glad I had read David's words of praise. They were brought to my heart today just when I needed them.
Father, thank you for being there for me.
I pray David's words would remind all of you of God's presence in a very special way.

I am so thankful!

2009-10-10T10:52:00.000-07:00

I wasn't really gonna say much about it until at least a significant amount of weight was lost.
I am finishing up my 5th week of Weight Watchers and have finally reached the 10 pound mark.
I weighed myself this morning. I am soooooo happpyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!
I have gained weight pretty steadily since I got married. I gained 2/3 of the 30 pounds in the last year. I was really feeling miserable about the weight gain. Not only could I see it but it also was making me feel weary. And Gwenn and I insist that chubber people feel the heat more and the heat can be UNBEARABLE here in Haiti. Wanting to get pregnant gave me that very last push I needed.
Like I think I said before, I am going into WW for the long haul this time. I don't want to have the mentality that after 30 lbs I can quit or after 50lbs or whatever. I want to keep going and when I stop losing weight then I keep monitoring my points and maintaining.
I used to get so upset thinking why some people have that challenge and some can stuff their little skinny faces and not gain an ounce. Well, not all people have the same cross to carry. That is just the way it is.
Anyway, I am so thankful. Some of you know how hard it is to lose weight. I know I could not do it without the Lord's strength.
Yey, I am now 10 lbs lighter. Hip Hip Hooray!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

My newest cake creation

2009-10-06T17:23:00.000-07:00

About 6 months ago I learned to make flowers

I love flowers! I premade all these roses and just froze

them. This was my first time basket weaving.

I don't really have patterns down, must have missed it

in kindergarten. It was really hard for me.

When I was a teenager I just loved the thought of queens

princesses. I really iked making this cake. And I loved the little

flowers surrounding the dress. I think all the Pye girls really

loved this one.

For Leann, of course. This was the easiest cake ever!

I actually really liked making this Haiti Air plane. It

took a while and kind of ended up looking like Thomas

the train's cousin. I liked it though.

This one has been my most creative cake-for Elinda

This was one of my first ones-for Slandia

This was also one of my beginner cakes, off of

the Family Fun website, good directions

This was also one of the first cakes, it started

getting more elaborate after this one.

This might have been my first or second cake, for Lovely

I kind of thought it was a bit scarry, an Ariel nightmare.

a homemade chocolate cake for the main guitar piece

Mini pound cakes for the longer piece.

I never thought it would turn out this good. "Mi Madre"

Dum Dums for the tuner knobs, brads for the blue and green dots

you see, and icing strings.

I actually don't think I have blogged my cakes before, at least I don't remember doing it.

I guess I started my cake making about a year ago when we were staying at the Pye's after Hurricane Gustav had wiped us out. I don't quite remember what my first cake was. I think I striked a deal that I would make a cake for Leann's kids birthdays. I have missed a few since then but I really enjoy making cakes for them. I also make cakes for some Joy In Hope employees and their kids. It is kind of like a ministry for me. Actually, I make them for short term mission trip team members with a birthday or special occassion. It is fun and I've learned a lot since I started.

Actually, I think I have been making cakes for near 2 years now since I know I have made two birthday cakes for some of the Pye kids already.

Today I made a guitar cake for Mackenson and Mackendy, twin teenage boys at the Pye's.

It took me about 8 hours to complete, including baking time. The result was incredible.

I think I have a new favorite.

And during my many cake decorating hours I started to realize that I could make some money making cakes one day. LOL! Here are some of my cakes I've made in the past and my newest creation.

Since I started I've had many friends give me "tips", "pans", "colors", and other supplies.

Thanks so much guys.

The things that thrill me.

2009-10-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about how amazing it is that our boys have changed so much over the course of 1 year.
Then I started thinking about how much I have changed over the course of 3 years. I have lived in Haiti for near 3 years now. I remember that I had a boring weekend every now and then when I was back home in Texas. I would plan a day with my mom or Norma would plan a day of Mall, Movie, and a Meal. Still, I was rather dissatisfied at the end of the day.
Lately, Nixon and I have run out of movies to watch. So this weekend I decided that we were gonna play games. Plus we had a sick kid and a very bored one, so we needed to keep an eye on him and at the same time entertain him. Actually, that is rather complicated.
Anyway, Nixon played this dorky little Bible Memory game with one of our boys then it turned into pretty much all the boys wanted to play. I can imagine noses turning up to our rinky dink Memory game back home. LOL. We also played Go Fish with another Bible card set.
Then we all played Sequence. I actually had some things to do but Nixon played for an endless amount of time with the boys. Then I discovered Yahtzee, always have wanted to learn to play this one. I made Nixon play about 3 times on Sunday. I was just happy as a clam. It doesn't take very much to make me happy as a clam since I moved to Haiti.
This morning I needed to run some errands, which Nixon ussually does, so I asked to borrow a car and went to the Pye house, money exchange shop, downtown and then to drop Lucette off at home so she could take care of her sick son. I came back feeling refreshed, kind of like I had been to the Mall or something. Ok, maybe not like that but it was nice. I was "happy as a clam". LOL!

Junior Church-More on the Creation Series

2009-10-04T13:01:00.000-07:00

Nixon says we cant help loving kids

Colored sand fish plate

Solar system mobile, then the kids got to

make their own (simplified version)

We made the cutest eagle craft out of leftover

bags from VBS. They are too cute!

The kids loved this project. I cut enough for

90 children. I will admit that I got sick of cutting:(

It was soooo worth it though.

I just had to take a picture of this little girl.

No, she wasn't going to a wedding. This was

just her church outfit.

Of course Nixon thought she was the most

beautiful little girl and hopes to dress our

daughter in the same type of outfits for church.

You've got to be kidding me!

Our Junior church program is up to about 90

children per Sunday!

I am so excited about the Creation series that we are still working on with the kids.

It is going really well and the children are learning so much about God's amazing world.

We've talked about the sun and the earth, that the earth spins on it's axis, that it orbits the sun.

The kids found this really interesting and it is exciting to see them "get it".

Nixon explained to me that although they learn so many facts in school, there is not alot of really understanding. And there is no "hands-on" either.

I made a Solar System mobile to give the kids understanding of our solar system. Then we took it a step farther and used children, naming them the sun, earth, jupiter, etc, placed them in different locations and then moved the sun around in order to demonstrate night and day. It was really really cool. We also have been playing a find your planet partner game.

When we talked about plants and trees we worked on a banana tree craft, and had a banana bread snack. The week before last we talked about fish and how amazing it is that God colors the fish with so many vibrant colors. We had fruit rings for a snack, to remind them the colors God uses. We've also begun to have a classroom for watching Planet Earth. I love this! The kids are actually watching incredible footage about God' powerful and Awesome works. Actually, last week the power kept going out so Nixon was incredibly frustrated, having to restart the projector and film way too often (actually like every 5 minutes) (It was terrible but that is how things often go in this country.)

That is actually not the only challenge we've been facing. Since school has now started, the program has grown to 90 children a week, on average. Yikes!!

Anyway, I have really enjoyed working on this series. And I am so glad that I am excited about Junior church. For a while there, I was just feeling really blah about it. God has used this series to also refresh and renew me. Thanks be to God! I cannot say just how much I needed a breath of fresh air. We will be talking about reptiles next week. Yey!

Let me know if anyone has any ideas.:)

Mackenson's Birthday:)

2009-09-30T18:40:00.000-07:00

Jn Robert yelled, "wait", as I was gonna take the picture.

He wanted to be a part of the cake eating group too.

Left: Here are the shoes that they all

decided they should wear in honor of

Mackenson's birthday.

Mackenson had a wonderful birthday.

We ussually celebrate here in the home with cake and a small gift. There was marching and singing as they came up. What in the world!? The boys were wearing their "good" shoes in honor of the birthday. It was hilarious! These boys are so crazy but so wonderful. We had a great time.

I made Mackenson a nice cake. He was so funny making kind of a story out of his cake. He said it was the beach and that he was playing soccer on the beach and he had just head butted the ball. He was really tickled. And I was tickled too, remembering that Mackenson is 20 and still got a kick out of his cake.

"Madam Nixon made it just for me", he boasted.

Happy Birthday Mackenson! Elira's birthday is just around the corner. I think I will stick with the little men for their cakes since they really liked Mackenson's.

:) May God continue to Bless our boys.

CLICK ON THE BOY'S HOME LINK TO THE LEFT TO SEE WHAT ELSE IS GOING ON IN THE JOY IN HOPE BOY'S HOME. WE ARE OFF TO A GOOD START:)

What a DORK! (at least that is what my sister would have called me:)

2009-09-28T14:04:00.000-07:00

The Innocent looking steamer. Her pretty silver
exterior is deceptive.

Leann has a steamer and I really didn't know what I could do with it. Madam Emeline had been doing nothing but storing flour in it and I found the manual lying around so I decided to look into it not too long ago. After seeing that you can cut down the cooking time by 70% I was sold.

"That would save a lot of propane," I thought. I told Madam Emeline to clean out the steamer because I had a plan. Smart right?

Well this morning was the morning. The result would be a nice big pot of pinto beans for a Mexican household.

Ok, so I read the instructions again and I had trouble figuring out when I could turn it off. Turns out I have to figure that out myself. The manual said 20 minutes for beans so I waited until 30 minutes had passed just to make sure.

After the time is completed I was supposed to turn the regulator valve to let out all the steam. I turned it a little and the steam began to come out. I figured I could open it completely. I figured it was ok.

As soon as I let go of the valve, I knew it was about to blow. It ruptured hissing brown liguid and steam. I heard my husband yell, "get back baby!"

I watched from a distance as the spray of steam mixed with brown bean water continued to shoot into the air. I so wish I would have taken a pictureof this. The spray continued for about 5 minutes as I helplessly looked on. It felt like a lot longer.

The aftermath was even sadder. Bean water ran down the walls, down the oven door, from my hanging utensils, from the ceiling, all over the floor and puddled in the stove.

I didn't know where to start cleaning up so I called Madam Emeline and she came to my rescue.

Madam Emeline chuckled to herself as she started to clean up the mess. I heard her say, "she said it would cook the food faster", and then she continued to laugh.

I was just trying to save propane!

How do you make homemade pizza?

2009-09-26T20:13:00.000-07:00

That is a huge slice Nico!

Yummy!

Add some cheese

Put on the pepperoni

rollin out the dough

Veggie Pizza with jalapenos:)

Crispy pizza, I really liked this one.

It's sooooooo gooood!!!

Among my favorite things to make for dinner are a couple of homemade pizzas.

When you have that good ole American tickle for a pizza and there is absolutely NO PIZZERIA around, it is quite easy to make it yourself.

Nixon is Haitian and Haitians are picky eaters. But guess what? My husband actually asks me to make him some pizza. He loves it!

Actually, my husband loves my cooking. Maybe that is why he has gained a considerable amount of weight since we got married. Ooops.

The first time I decided I would make pizza was for Nixon's past birthday party.

I made 17 homemade pizzas. I must have been out of my mind. And yes I was in the kitchen from 8am-7pm. It was ridiculous. Needless to say, I considered myself pretty good after that.

LOL!

I use Jay's Signature Pizza Crust recipe found on all recipes.com

The recipe was submitted by Jason Sharp

Ingredients:

2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast

1/2 tsp brown sugar

1 1/2 cups warm water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp olive oil (i use a tad less and use regular canola oil)

3 1/3 cups all purpose flour

In a large bowl, dissolve the yeast and brown sugar in the water, and let sit for 10 minutes.

Stir the salt and oil into the yeast solution. Mix in 2 1/2 cups of the flour.

Turn dough onto a clean, well floured surface and knead in more flour until the dough is no longer sticky. (You will probably end up adding 1/2 -2 cups by the time it is not sticky)

Place dough in a well oiled bowl and cover with a cloth. Let dough rise for about an hour.

Punch dough down and allow to relax for about 5 minutes and then roll out on a floured surface.

Preheat oven to 425 degreees F.

(I allow my pizza dough to bake a little before putting on my sauce and toppings. Otherwise it takes FOREVER. I bake it until almost done. You can feel the crust and almost feel it is done or leaves you wondering if it needs a little more time. About 15 minutes should do it. )

(Roll it out a little thick for more of a thick crust and thinner for a thin crust. Bake your crust longer for a crispy crust and don't bake so long for a softer crust. )

Then add a not so thick coat of pizza sauce and toppings of your choosing and pop in oven for about 10 minutes. (My favorite pizza toppings are pepperoni, onion, and jalapeno, with mozarella cheese.)

You'll love it! I like the not having much of a mess to clean up and paper plates and cups makes it really really nice. :)

I am wanting to have an HCH/JinH pizza gathering at my house soon. Yummy!

Of course I don't easily get my hands on pizza sauce around here so I make my own. Mine is basic and I am sure it can get a lot yummier than this.

I use 2 small cans of tomato paste, 8 oz each. I add two cans of water, Italian pizza seasoning or regular italian seasoning and 2 tbsp of brown sugar. It is ok but like I said, I am sure it can get a lot yummier. Anyone have a good sauce recipe to share. Keep in mind that tomato paste is really easy to find, not tomato sauce. Nor am I big in spending longer hours than necessary in the kitchen. Simple and yummy is what I like.

I really love that you can get the kids involved too. Check out the Mangine kids making their yummy pizzas. I think they really enjoyed themselves. Then we finished it off with a movie.

Nixon and I had a great time. Thank you Nick and Gwenn for lending us your kids. We love them so much!

Beach fun

2009-09-22T18:12:00.000-07:00

Super Nia!

sitting in the well.

Wow, what a pic!

Get her Niko!

I met Fritzy a long time ago, glad she is finally

part of a loving home. She is truly blessed!

Check out Frandy and Elira's stands.

Get it baby!

Nixon and Josiah, sportmen!

My handsome boys.

After a very busy week I stayed up way too late for the preparation of Junior church this past Saturday. I almost passed up a trip to the beach on Sunday afternoon after church. Anyway, I did not and I am sooooo glad. I got to see our Boys Home boys in action (as well as my husband, I am his biggest fan). The boys had fun playing soccer and I had fun trying to get good pictures of them. I also got to spend some time with the Mangine kids, it is one of my FAVORITE things to do. After digging this really wimpy hole in the sand for Josiah to sit in, Nick built like a well for his kids. I excused myself from my embarassing hole digging efforts and took some great pics of them as well.

It was a beautiful afternoon. It was cloudy but still warm. It was just a really great afternoon. It was almost like I really wasn't part of the group, not the boys or the Mangine fam, I was on the outside looking in and I really enjoyed that. Everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves. Though I did miss Jn Robert and Gwen.

Creation

2009-09-11T20:23:00.000-07:00

showing off their crafts

that is Toto behind the moon on the right:)

I layed down the law, "If I see glitter on your

faces, all over your arms, then I take your paper

away. Some of you know how crazy glitter can

get, especially in Haiti. We had no problems.

A couple of the girls singing a solo

They had a perfectly synchronized sway.

It was adorable.

I have actually known these twin boys for years.

I met them when they were at another orphanage.

Yflo and Yvyo love to sing duets. They sing some songs

that the Dominican team I was with taught them, about

5 years ago. How awesome is that?

I am preparing for Junior church again. We have about 60 children show up every Sunday.

At the beginning of the summer I started teaching a "Creation" series. It has had a few interruptions but that is something to expect in Haiti. All in all though, it has gone really really well. The children are learning a Creation song to the "London Bridge" tune. We made sun and moon and cloud and sea and tree paddles for the children to hold up during different parts of the song. They like this. When we talked about God creating plants the children decorated their banana tree with banana clusters and colored, learned some more of their song, and ate a piece of banana bread that I had made them. Nixon was really really proud of them the week before last. We talked about the earth and how it orbits the sun and how the earth turns on it's axis and the moon's orbit around the earth. I made a mobile for the kids to visualize and used kids dressed in yellow for the sun, green for the earth, white for the moon, and stuck a few planets in there to make a life size mobile. The children really understood and when I changed the position of the earth, they could tell us when it was day or night. It was really really cool.

Omega taught them their song, Leann helped the children make a basic mobile, and Nixon and I played a planet game with the kids.

This week I will be starting to show the kids pieces of the "Planet Earth" documentary. I am sure that this will be the first time for most of the kids to see such real images of sun, space, clouds, etc. I am really excited. I feel like we are incorporating the awesomeness of God with science(taught differently than just memorizing facts). Honestly, Nixon shared with me how this was the first time he really understood some concepts. Although he had memorized facts, now he understands. Yey!

Thanks to Leann and the HCH kids who have helped out a ton with Junior church. Thank you especially to my amazingly handsome, caring, and sensitive black man.

May God bless all those beautiful children and while we show them a peek of how amazing our Creator is, may their little hearts be hearts that beat for their Maker.

Anyway, I am really really excited!

The Journey

2009-09-10T08:25:00.000-07:00

Losing weight is similar to the spiritual journey we find ourselves on.
During different times in my life I have succeeded to some point. I have succeeded to the point of losing over 60 lbs over a two year time period. At other times in my life I have hopped on a life changing diet only to lose 0-5 lbs and then quit.
The lack of discipline that leads some of us(those who carry that cross)to weight gain promises satisfaction but instead only delivers more entrapment. The piece of chocolate cake (such as the ones i make) is good at that moment but that savory treat delivers discouragement when seen on the scale. And the pounds creep up, they usually don't just instantly appear on the scale.
They sneak in, one by one, only to deliver a near heart attack shocker at a later point in time.
Spiritually, it is much the same.
The lack of discipline of keeping up with our daily time with the Lord (rushed prayers and reading of God's Word every Sunday don't really count)only delivers confusion, exhaustion, weakness, pits of depression and discouragement. That sin may be good at the moment but in the end delivers painful and discouraging consequences. Those days where the daily nourishment of God's Word are not taken in result in poor health.
Training is needed in both subjects, Spiritual growth and stability as well as physical health (being 50 lbs overweight is not healthy). Training spiritually helps increase our strength, our perseverance, and prepares us for those spiritual battles that come like huge waves. Training physically increases our physical strength, increases perseverance to do as much as we can, and prepares us for those physical challenges of climbing mountains and walking/running to get to those remote areas of the world.
I started my weight watcher challenge this week. I am doing it with something of a different mentality though. I am doing it for a lifetime this time. I want to think of it as this is how I am going to eat for the rest of my life. (Some of us carry that cross, that is just the way it is.)
Last week the HCH/JIH team went to Basin Bleu. I knew that it was going to be hard on me, being that I've gained 30 lbs since I got married, almost two years ago now. (Yep, that is a whopping 15 lbs/year.) It still amazes me. The Basin Bleu experience was hard, humiliating(though the clapping was meant in the kindest of ways), and showed me that it is time to stop playing around and get with it. Add in the amazing beauty of the mountains and the waterfall area, I am glad that I HAD to go.
Pray for me when you get a moment. Freedom in the Lord is to be closer than close to Him, Freedom (physically speaking) is to be in the best health possible(to me, losing a lot of weight).

I need Him as much as I needed Him then

2009-09-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

Wow, it has been exactly a week since I last posted.
We have seen a team go and one is on the way. This is why I like to scrapbook our teams, it makes it hard to forget them.
One of the members of the team was a remarkable young man. He had such zeal when speaking of the Lord is truly gifted. Only 19 years old and a youth Pastor. He is mature and sober and yet is so anxious to learn more about the Lord and in turn, tell others all these exciting things.
I became a Christian more than 10 years ago and was at a time when I desperately needed Him. It seemed I had tried everything else to satisfy and to relieve my pain but nothing had worked. I remember I told the Lord one night, if you don't show yourself to me, I am going to take my life. It was quite simple, if life was just what was around me then I didn't want any more of it. I met Christ through some Campus Christians working on the University campus, evangelizing. I went to a couple of Bible Studies and then I remember realizing, kind of awestruck, as to how I could inherit heaven. "You mean there is more to life than my problems, than my desire to self destruct?" I remember thinking these things. I was amazed and I fell in love with the Lord Jesus right away. I gave myself completely to Him. I read my Bible like there was no tomorrow. I would take Christian articles and hide them in my books so I could read them instead of listening to the class lecture. I learned to witness and witnessed alongside my missionary friends. I met with girls who were interested in growing in the Lord. I felt so alive, so energetic, so excited. Don't get me wrong, my life was still falling apart. I was working, evangelizing, and filed for bankruptcy cause things were so bad. But I had joy, this incredible joy! I still remember.
I witnessed and shared with my family and one by one they all gave their life to Christ.
Jesus changed my life, he changed my heart, the way I viewed things,...everything.
Now, years later, I still love the Lord just as much. I want to be a woman after God's own heart. I want to impact the world for Jesus. I want to truly LIVE!
Some would say, "you are truly living, you are a missionary in Haiti." It is not that simple. Even in the missionary field we can get overwhelmed, feel lost, be depressed. In the end, I realize it is all quite simple. We need to stick close to the Lord, dig deep into His Word, spend time meditating on His truths, pray, so that He can fashion our character to be like Him. The same "basics" for Christian living then are the same "basics" for Christian living now. I think that sometimes I think that those "basics" are for baby Christians, not me.
Today, I find Proverbs 3:5-6 encouraging. "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight." This is the truth, no ifs ands or buts. All I have to do is acknowledge Him in everything, and everything will take care of itself. This is the truth.

Even in the fullness of a day

2009-09-02T22:28:00.000-07:00

Nixon and I were planning on sleeping in but it did not happen. I woke up about 6:30am and my husband was no longer in bed. I found him sitting on the floor in a patch of shade on the balcony,....thinking. God is teaching us a lot right now and so we are trying to be still and listen, even as we have a ton of other things to do since it is the beginning of the school year.
Yesterday we spent some time looking at kids we've helped in the past and looking at how we can still help them this year. We've let some go and we've found innovative ways to be able to help other students, even if it is just a little. We wish we could help so many more.
We've also been spending time looking at numbers together, not so fun. We've been going over costs and thinking about where we can cut back. We've been looking at our sponsorship and seen that it is pretty poor. So what have we been learning? That we need God.
Isn't it funny to realize that when things get tough we feel a more desperate need we have for the Lord.
Times of "need" draw us closer to God, or should anyway.
We both spent some time in prayer together crying out the Lord in different areas and just recognizing that we can do nothing without Him. It was wonderful and it made my heart glad.
Times of need, of suffering, of confusion, arent really so bad.
Those times can be used to draw closer to God and I realize that that is where I want my family to be. Praise the Lord for that. Blessings to you and yours.

God is so faithful!

2009-08-31T17:47:00.000-07:00

Nixon and I were so blessed by some friends visiting us this weekend. We met Carol and Bob about 3 years ago and we just hit it off. Though we've never even lived in the same city, we have genuine affection for each other. We've always prayed for each other and remembered each other. Sometimes Nixon and I will think of them and pray for them. They are those kind of special people that we run into in life sometimes.
Out of the blue they called and said they were taking a few days off from their ministry work and were coming to Jacmel. We enjoyed the pleasure of their company on Saturday afternoon (I was so glad I felt better) and then I had the pleasure of making dinner for them on Sunday evening.
We talked, shared our hearts with each other(our passions), caught up on life, and even had a beautiful time of prayer together.
It is so funny that we met during a very distasteful experience 3 years ago and our relationship with each other has just grown in such a God way despite the fact we are so far away from each other and are really quite different from each other.
God is so amazing, strange, and good. We felt so blessed this weekend, so special, and so loved.
We were reminded of God's tender care and heard his voice echo, "you are my treasured children, I will never leave you or forsake you, just trust Me."
Lord, there are no words to express my gratitude. Thank you for "visiting" us this weekend in a very special way. We love You so much Lord. Blessed be Your Name in all the heavens and in all the earth.

On the Mend

2009-08-27T19:01:00.000-07:00

I feel so much better today. I woke up at 8:00 am and made my neglected guest, Tammy, some french toast. Poor thing, she has been having to cope with left over pancakes and cold cereal. Not what I ussually like my guests to eat.
I cleaned up a bit and then made my husband some food as well. After that I just couldn't handle any more so I went to bed. After sleeping for three hours I got up to make some lunch for my guest. I also unexpectedly ended up having worship rehearsal in our home. I enjoyed that very much. Afterwards, my guests had brownies and drinks. I really love having guests, especially Haitians for some reason.
I have to admit that I was terribly wiped out afterwards. I managed to make my husband some dinner and then felt pretty miserable again. I then made myself an oregano leaf tea and still did not feel good. I felt so tired and warm so I took a shower again but still didn't feel any better. I finally figured out that my inhaler was not working. Nixon and I both have chronic bronchitis. Mine was probably expired since I really don't have many bronchial problems since I moved here. As soon as I took a couple of puffs of Nixon's inhaler, I felt a lot better.
Thank you for all your prayers and your love. Thanks Dave, for your encouragement. I am definitely on the mend.

Sick in bed for two days

2009-08-26T18:47:00.000-07:00

This is for you Dave. :)
Can some of you gals relate to when you feel so sick that the world looks gray. Suddenly, misplaced shoes, dirty laundry, the sun shining, a husband's hovering all mean just one thing?.....LIFE SUCKS!
No, it is really not the end of the world, I am just sick for only like the second time since I have been in Haiti. Reminds me of when I was young. I would hardly ever get sick but when I finally got sick, it was pretty bad.
I have hardly any apetite, am pretty grumpy, feel really gross, sneeze constantly, cough constantly and sleep constantly. If you're thinking "she must feel better cause she is on the computer", you're wrong. But I am pretty sick of being in bed.
I am reminded of a young missionary leading a Bible Study saying, "when you complain about stubbing your toe, thank God you have a toe to hurt". Lord, I thank you. I say this as I reflect on all the days when I have not been sick. LOL! I don't think i did that right.
So, how did i get this really bad cold? Well, maybe it was staying up late every night last week preparing for our Church Conference VBS. Or maybe it was sweating for 3 hrs straight twice a day this weekend. Or maybe it was staying in those 90 degree plus classrooms with zero ventilation. Add in beautiful sweaty kids carrying God knows which germs, ...Voila! Or maybe it was just sniffing Gwenn's killer gross disease festering mattress. LOL!

Days off

2009-08-14T13:28:00.000-07:00

Days off

The ministry decided to give us all one day a week where we could hopefully take a "day off".

Two weeks ago, the week of VBS in Chabin, was our first "day off". Nixon was very reluctant to not going to Chabin since he and Naomi were doing worship and he was also translating the lesson, and some more. Sometimes he really hates getting "too busy" but loves being used.

Anyway, he finally agreed. Norma and I were going to stay back and SCRAPBOOK, which we ABSOLUTELY LOVE TO DO! (Wish you all could see it, it is done, for now).

Nixon slept in a little and then got up and went to check things downstairs. He found muddy water in the cistern below and found muddy water in all the showers and toilets. OH NO!

Our poor team had bravely dealt with the dirty water situation. You guys are great! Nixon spent the whole morning with Wiskey, who was "passing through". They drained the cisterns on top of the building, scrubbed the cisterns out, and then put clean water in. What a chore!

My big black chocolate kiss was busy for the rest of the day.

This week was our second "day off". We have a team of two in town and so I got up to make breakfast for them. Then I cleaned up the house a bit. Nixon got up early to get some things done too. I am not sure what time it was, i think around 11am, when Danny came in and said something about my "day off". Ha! I had forgotten. I made lunch for the guys downstairs and worked around on the second floor, after taking a delicious little nap. I am so glad Danny reminded me of my "day off".

All in all though, I think a day off is a great idea (hopefully it will not remain just an "idea").

I could use a little more "baby making" time. LOL!!! TMI!

An "I love being able to help" story

2009-08-14T12:53:00.000-07:00

The Story of Ricardo
Wiskey accompanied Ricardo to Port Au Prince

Nixon and Ricardo, after he got scrubbed clean

Ricardo brushing his hair, after being ordered around to look decent (poor baby)

Ricardo came to the house looking pretty "iffy". Nixon then

decided he just could not go anywhere looking like a

homeless boy, it wouldn't be safe.

This is a "tap tap". It is public transportation. When a person has

reached his/her destination, he/she can tap anywhere to be let off.

Ricardo

Last Friday I was walking back from church with Mandy. I ran into a boy who walked along with us as I was talking to Mandy (it often happens). Haitians find it amazing to listen to two foreigners speaking English. Go figure. Anyway, I turned to the little boy and said Bonswa, and reached out to give him a love touch. He immediately caught my hand in mid air and did not let go as we continued to walk together. I was halfway home so I decided to chit chat with him. I asked him if he was gonna start school soon, I don't remember his response. Then I asked him where he lived since I had not seen him before. He said he was with a woman in order to not go through misery. I asked if she was family and his response was no. I asked him if she treated him well, he said no. He said he was only with her in order to not go through misery. Then I asked about his parents and family and life. It turns out his mother had died, either in Gonaives or Jacmel and now he was just staying with a lady. I told him to wait out in front as I would go get him some food and then I sent Nixon out to investigate further.

Ricardo is 11 years old, from Gonaives, and wanted to head back to Gonaives where he has family. Nixon used the next few days to check out his story and even went out to where he was staying, in a little half built church not too far away. The Pastor of the church had gotten the same story from Ricardo and so Nixon agreed to give him money to send him back to Gonaives.

He showed up on Wednesday morning, as planned. Nixon came and told me that he did not want to send him as he was, in dirty clothes. I told him to give him a bath and I started searching around for clothes. I headed downstairs when I found some clothes, a little oversized but clean.

It seemed all Jon Robert, Wiskey, and Nixon were working together to scrub Ricardo down and get him ready to go. It was hilarious.

Nixon gave Wiskey and Ricardo money and Wiskey accompanied him to the Port Au Prince where he would put Ricardo on a tap tap to Gonaives, to the north of Haiti.

It is just one of those "feel good" stories that makes us glad to be able to be used.

We continue to pray that Ricardo is doing well in Gonaives. He has our phone number in case he should need to get a hold of us.

Lovin the Water

2009-08-10T10:19:00.000-07:00

My husband loves the water. He doesn't necessarily like getting blacker than black but he loves the water. As I was takin these pictures I thought about how he has no idea how good lookin he truly is. LOL!

More of our few days off!

2009-08-05T12:11:00.001-07:00

A few days off!

2009-08-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

My best friend Norma came to Haiti to visit us. Nixon and I had been talking about taking a few days off so we decided to go to Wahoo Bay. Thanks to the Pye's, we were lent a vehicle instead of renting one. We went to WahooBay (in the St. Marc area) and then spent a day to just have R&R. I loved every minute of it. We were out on the beach and in the water ALL DAY! It was so yummy.

Then we drove to a place on the other side of Port. They had combos!, like burgers, fries, and hot dogs.

I did have a reality check moment as I was trying to decide what to get.

I saw a cuban steak sandwhich as a combo and asked for the perfect lunch. I almost heard the record scratch sound as she proceeded to tell me "we don't have steak". SIKE! (OR PSYCHE!--not sure how it is spelled.) Then why is it on the menu!? Reality hit,....I was still in Haiti.

Anyway, the little cafe at the Baptist mission had a spectacular view and we spent time looking at some beautiful and inexpensive souvenirs. The area was up in the mountains, had beautiful houses and it was nice and cool in temperature.

It as a great morning. Afterwards we went grocery shopping.

Nixon and I had left Jacmel at 6am on Monday morning and got back on Wednesday at 9pm. We made our few days off, COUNT! They were the best 3 days I have had in a while.

Pin~ata hazards

2009-08-03T03:50:00.000-07:00

Pinata's are great ideas for parties, and they are so much fun! They are a great ice breaker if no one really knows each other, and they can also be a stress reliever.

Pinatas are supposed to be for the kids but the reality is that the kids will ussually never break the darn thing by themselves so you let all the kids hit a couple of times and then the adults get a go. I think that all us "adults" are just going "ok hurry up and go" imagining how "I" will be the one to hit the pinata the hardest and "shine" before all the others. It is like the monster in "I" comes out.

Danny had the "procedure" down. You get spinned, blind-folded, help the "hitter" tap to know where the pinata is and then leave them to it. The person "manning" the pinata pulls up and down, swings it, etc, making it even more difficult to bang. It is hilarious!

There are potential hazards that you should be aware of though, this coming from a mexican-american gal that has been to I dont know how many pinata parties.

1. The hitter must grip the batting stick firmly, cause once they figure out they can do an almost 360 degree turn and have more of a chance of hitting the pinata, the hitter will do it. It is like watching a lunatic baseball player trying to kill a bee.

2. You must set the firm rule for children to NOT RUN AS SOON AS THE CANDIES COME OUT OF THE PINATA. I have yet to see this rule be followed. The hitter keeps swinging and the kids rush into the "danger zone". I dont know how I've never seen an accident. Yet I have seen at least a dozen "almost disasters".

3. If the "hitter" happens to knock the rope out of the "pinata manner's" hands, he/she will proceed to madly beat the pinata into the ground(as if this is somehow success). The "hitter" must STOP when he hears the word.

4. And something I should have mentioned above, the "assistant" (spinner and blindfolder) to the "pinata manner", helps the "hitter" find the pinata and then run like a "bat out of hell".

I will add more potential "pinata hazards" to watch out for if I remember them.

Leann threw a pinata party for Danny's birthday. It was really really fun.

-Sandra

Mornings of blessings

2009-07-23T18:30:00.000-07:00

It seems we've had beautiful mornings lately. I remember Sandi Patti's- was it a morning like this? and Steve Green's morning songs.

We went to sleep Sunday night knowing that we would have to get up very early. We heard the prayer ladies would come to our house come Monday morning. (We had discovered that if we put the t.v. in a certain place in the living room, it gets a couple of more channels. Two really great American movies came on so we stayed up late.)The ladies came right on time. We were up at 5:30am and that is when the ladies started to gather. They sang and prayed and sang and prayed some more. It was a glorious start to the day. The highlight was us being put in the middle and the ladies praying for us, the ladies seemed to particularly target my belly since it is very unnatural to be married for almost 2 years and still not have a lil nixon.

It rained on Monday night, pretty hard. It was feeling unbearably hot for a while and it seemed like it just would not rain. Monday night the rain came. We got a little thunder with it, the rain woke me up as it was coming in through the window and sprinkling my face. At about 5 a.m. we heard ladies marching up the street, but they were singing hymns. How glorious. I heard them, as if in a dream. I tried to open my eyes and get up but had no success. The rain obviously did not keep these prayer warriors from doing a prayer march.

On Tuesday night it rained hard, off and on all night. It thundered and rained hard. It was like God's power and grace rolled up into one perfect package.

We've had wonderful mornings lately and my heart is full of thanksgiving. God is Good.

Electricity or the lack of

2009-07-16T17:48:00.000-07:00

I remember those days when we lived out in Cyvadier. We had electric for a time between 6 or 8pm. We would anxiously await the electric. We would sit outside talking to our elderly. Sometimes we would sing together. Those were good times.
The wait for the electric was trying on the nerves though. Nixon lived in a part of Port that always had electric and of course Texas has electricity too. LOL! It was always hard.
Today was one of those days where the electric didn't come till about 7pm. I went up and sat on the roof where it was nice and cool while waiting. We didn't want to turn on the generator until we absolutely had to, to save fuel.
People had already gotten their kerosene lamps and candles out. And then poof, the electric came and all the lights went on in the houses down below and at exactly the same time children and adults cheered. It kind of sounds like, whey!!!!! I remembered that this was the same in Cyvadier. We lived far from the main street and you could hear the cheers in the distance when the electric came.
I don't think I was ever was as grateful for electricity in the States. I don't think I ever really thought about it. Here I am always aware of it.

Recipe of the week

2009-07-16T11:25:00.000-07:00

Here is another recipe that will be a hit anywhere you take it. I am glad the blonde brownies were a hit Karen.

This cake is Leann's favorite and my husband loves it too. I get in trouble if I make one and take it all and don't leave some slices for his night time snack. :)

Cream Cheese Bundt Cake

#1 Say a little prayer before you start, its a little picky. Needs a little blessing to start it off.

DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN

(seriously, this cake is simple to make but very picky)

Beat the following ingredients until fluffy

2 1/3 sticks margarine

2 cups sugar

Then beat in one box of cream cheese (8 ounces)

Add in 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla

and as you start beating add in 4 eggs, ONE AT A TIME

Add in 2 cups flour and a dash of salt.

Should be nice and thick and smooth.

Pour into well greased and floured bundt cake mold

BAKE AT 275 DEGREES FARENHEIT FOR ABOUT 1 HOUR AND 10 MINUTES.

if you are in Haiti it would be about 1/3rd of a mark under the 2 for about 1 hour and a half. The cake should be lightly browned. COOL COMPLETELY BEFORE INVERTING.

Good luck!

Put on a pretty plate and dust with powdered sugar. ;) TRUST ME, EVERYONE WILL LOVE IT!

This recipe was given to me by an elderly lady I used to read to. It was a long time ago and I've since forgotten her name. She used to collect Troll dolls and had a very short temper. I liked ther though.

The Hancocks

2009-07-15T17:09:00.000-07:00

Our dear friends the Hancocks are planning on moving to Haiti and joining HCH in the near future. Nixon and I are looking forward to this so much. We were dreaming together last night and it was exciting. The Hancocks were here for a month and left for their home in Florida this morning. We miss them already. We can't wait for them to join HCH/Joy In Hope.

Here are some pictures of Jon, Jennifer, and their three teenage girls (Katie, Karie, and Amber) helping us at Junior Church this past week. We kicked off our "Creation" series and so we had 2 crafts going (one of them with glitter :)fun fun). We needed plenty of hands. The family made a great team.

We love you and miss you already guys.

We are praying for our BIG GOD to do BIG THINGS. :)

Haitian Boa

2009-07-14T14:49:00.000-07:00

I have been meaning to research a bit about animals in Haiti. I had heard there were big snakes in Haiti. Well apparently there are Boa Constrictors in Haiti. It is actually named the Haitian Boa. This is one found in a hotel (called the Garden of Eden) in Port last week. Yikes, here is hoping i never run into one.

Dehydration-taken lightly

2009-07-14T14:29:00.000-07:00

you can see the ocean in the distance

I woke up feeling terrible yesterday morning. My husband was off to pick up Leann and I was up at 5:30am but only for a little while. Then I got up a 7am and felt terrible. I just felt so tired, and sore. I grabbed a bottle of water and tried to read a little but went back to sleep. At about 8:30am, the ladies that work downstairs came in and I got up and cleaned up the house a bit and did some stuff. This time, when I got up I remembered that I had hardly drank water the day before. I had drank a water bottle in the morning and a cup at night. Plus, the Hancocks and Nixon and I had spent a few hours at the pool. Wow, I went back to bed about 9am after drinking 34 ounces of gatorade. I had chills, muscle cramps, a terrible headache and achy tiredness. Wow, I had never felt so terrible. I really never went to sleep again, just laid there and worked on a second 34 ounce bottle of gatorade. At about 11am I started to feel like myself again. The energy slowly came back, like coming back from the dead. It was strange weird. The days are really hot lately and I hear it is over 100farenheit back home too. Friends and family, drink plenty of water, it is terribly important.

Today, I feel just great even though it was a really hot night and sleep wasn't too comfy. I am happy to be alive and to be loved, especially by my King.

I went up on my roof just to get a look, I remembered how beautiful this country is. I feel refreshed today. The pictures above are taken from the roof of the Joy In Hope Rue Petion house.

Butterscotch or Blonde Brownies

2009-07-10T12:11:00.000-07:00

This is a recipe that we shared in our Advent Recipe book at our church one Christmas. This recipe was submitted by Teresa Olsen.
IT IS A VERY GOOD RECIPE!
I have always made it as a quick desert and it makes guests groan with delight. :)
I have doubled this recipe because I make it for a good amount of people.
This will give you about 12-16 blondies.
1/2 c. shortening
2 c packed brown sugar
2 eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla
1 1/2 c. flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 c. chopped nuts ( I use walnuts)
Heat oven to 350 degrees F.
heat shortening over low heat until melted; remove from heat. Mix in brown sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir in remaining ingredients. Spread in a regular sized rectangular baking pan. Spread evenly. Bake about 25 minutes. Cut while warm. If you wait too long, they are almost impossible to cut. And I would not serve them too much later than when they are a little warm still. You can also barely cool them and stick them in a ziplock bag. It seems they are not so hard if you do not let them sit out too much initially. They are really really good. And really, they are the easiest recipe I have.

The joy of having kids over

2009-07-09T20:46:00.000-07:00

Today, we had the priviledge of having the Mangine kids over for a good part of the day at our house. I got to play "Go fish" with them. We made macaroni and cheese, we played on the drum (very loudly), we played Memory(Nixon cheated), we napped (I went to rehearsal), and then we had slushys and popcorn after our nap. Fun Fun! By the way, Nia and I thought the slushys were the best in the whole wide world and Nia wondered why it had to be finished when we wanted more. They were really really good.

Slushy recipe:

2 crystal light things( or kool-aid)

3/4 blender ice

1/2 cup sugar

1-2 cups club soda

1 tablespoon grenadine essence

Thirsty, happy kids

Steak for Dinner?!%#

2009-07-09T20:11:00.000-07:00

The serious man

The goof

The "ham" in the background

The friendly guy

My "big, strong chocolate kiss"

My husband

For all of you that come to Haiti, you know that the way meat is cooked is really tasty. Although I like meat, especially beef and I love my beef to taste beefy. I think by the the time you add all that citrus, the meat tastes good but not like meat.

Leann loves to make fillet mignon. And Nixon eats it but he says its blan food. The night before last I took out a couple of t-bone steaks to defrost while I made dinner. I had been saving them up for a while. After we ate our dinner, I got a zip lock bag, put my raw steaks in it, poured plenty of worchestire sauce and but the bag in the fridge. Nixon watched and said, "wow, baby, that is so blan". He went on and on about how he doesn't think any other Haitian would eat the blan food he does. And then he confessed the fact that he sometimes asks himself if he should really eat his wife's food. I can be pretty patient with my husband, in some ways. I just shrugged it off and said I wanted to hear him sing that same song at dinner time the next day. He kept scoffing and laughing.

So the next day came around, and I put the steaks on at about 6pm. I made some thick, lumpy, buttery mashed potatoes to go with it. (I LOVED THE MASHED POTATOES!)

Nixon kept saying he would just have some of that slushy drink that I was making. Then he said he might have a steak, the small one. He took a little bite as he many times does, when all I want is for him to sit down with me instead of just picking until he is full. Gosh, my husband does drive me crazy sometimes. Anyway, he took one bite and kind of just stopped chewing and turns to me and says, BABE,..this is really good. Long story short, I had about a quarter of a steak and Nixon had 1 and 3/4 and could have eaten a couple more. He loved the steaks! That teaches him to slam "blan" food, especially his wife's food. LOL:)

My Washer:)

2009-07-08T15:59:00.000-07:00

I had been telling Nixon that I wanted a washer. I had decided that I wanted our clothes to last, especially having friends of ours buy Nixon NICE clothes. (Thanks Travis:)) So in route to take care of Woody one weekend, I found my little washer. These are the kind that are really used in the Dominican Republic. That was exactly what I wanted, I had thought I would have to have it shipped from the Dominican. It was on sale for $190 U.S. in Port Au Prince. I was so happy. I love washing ALL my clothes in about 4 hours/week and actually having them dry in about one hour. One of the sides is a spinner that really does spin it water free. (The clothes does have to be spread as evenly as possible or the bucket is not balanced and starts knocking around. ) That is really great considering that it rains A LOT here and sometimes the clothes does not dry by the time it starts to rain again.

So anyway, I have enjoyed washing for about a month and a half. I would fill my washer by pouring bucket after bucket into my little friend. It is much easier but it was some work pouring all that water in. By the time I would fill the washer for the 3rd time, my arms would start to feel weak. But I was still grateful and continued to love my friend faithfully.

This week, John hooked up a pvc pipe and a spicket from up above and through the outside into my house. Wow! It is wonderful. I just open the spicket and pour water in when I want to fill my little friend. It is nice and easy and convenient. Madam Jan would have loved that when she was washing for me. :( I just never thought it would be that easy. John hooked me up in like 20 minutes. I washed today. What a dream! I remember I did not really like washing in the States, in the washer,....having to wait,...then put it in the dryer,....then folding it. It seemed like such an ordeal. Then I moved here and hand-washed for all the YWAM orphanage kids. It would take all day at least 2 days a week. Then I got married and it was 5 or 6 hours a day, twice a week. Yes, hand washing. After the first year of marriage, Madam Jan washed for me. And now, my little friend washes.

I was mopping this morning and was telling Nixon I needed to fill the washer since we had city water for the first time in 3 days. Nixon said he would fill it. He put a little water in and he turned it on to rinse it before filling it, just like I had instructed. I watched him as he studied my little friend's insides. After he had filled it, I began to put clothes in. I turned to Nixon and he said, "baby,...." He looked kind of smirky, like he had figured something. He kept talking, "you know, I see that little washer swish the clothes one way and then the other way,....baby, it doesn't really wash the clothes,... does it?" I busted out laughing. My husband makes me laugh.

I certainly hope it washes the clothes since we spent $190 dollars on it. Mind you, it is not Haitian washed but I am confident that it washes the clothes to my satisfaction.

I love my little washer! Thank you John, for the water. :)

Getting Married Again?!

2009-07-06T19:06:00.000-07:00

Yes, once we get to the States. Though we had no intention of getting married again, honestly. Well, maybe after 10 years or so.

Last week I received a new bank card. I assumed that I got one because the old one had expired. After I looked at my other card, it wasn't expiring until 2012. After taking a closer look on the card, I saw that the new card had my maiden name on it. That was strange since I had changed my name on social, bank, everything in December of 2008. Hmmm. I called my bank, the 1-800 number, an impatient woman hardly bothered to answer my questions. I called again, this time getting a young man. I explained the problem and he said I would need to come down to my local branch to do it all over again. I explained that I was out of the country and this could really cause a problem with my checks deposited and such. He said he understood but that I would have to come down to my local branch. I said, "fine", restraining myself from saying further. Then I decided to call my local branch. The young man who answered said he understood and saw no reason he could not fix the problem. He then put me on hold. "If all I had to do was to be put on hold for this mess to be resolved, no problem."

As I wondered how in the world this happened, I imagined some dodo had just used my maiden name on something or received something in my maiden name and decided to change my name back.

The same young man did not come back on the line, it was the manager of the local branch. He spoke like he knew exactly what was going on and I could hear the "good El Paso folk" in his tone of voice. He explained that when my marriage certificate got to a certain level of the bank, it was considered in valid since it was in french. It was on file along with a translation although the translation had to be notarized, and then authenticated before the bank would have taken it.

And so, long story short, my name had been changed back. The manager further explained that I should have no problem with my checks and all since my present name included my maiden name in it. That was a relief to hear.

Then I began to question him about how to rectify the problem once I made a trip back to the States. "Honestly", he said, "I would just get married again here in the States. Many folk that marry in Mexico, do this very same thing. Then you will have a U.S. marriage certificate, for anything you might need in the future. You can even invite me and we will have a good ole party", he added. What a great idea! So, long story short, to all you El Paso folk, "we will be having a wedding party in the near future". LOL!

Most people renew their vows after 10 years or so. I guess we are renewing them after 2. ;)

Fourth of July 2009

2009-07-04T21:14:00.000-07:00

Our Orange Soda Cake. Josiah put sprinkles on, dont worry Gwenn, he did not eat any. :)

Me and my strong black chocolate kiss Jon and Jennifer Hancock

Mike, Georgette and son

Nia Mangine :)

It was a great evening. Nixon and I hosted a fourth of July party for all the HCH ers in town. We missed the Pye's and Gwenn though. It was wonderful though. Nixon put up twinkling lights and I put up some Happy 4th posters and I decorated the table. Even though I was pressed for time, I had the greatest time doing everything. It was really nice. I was so busy with preparations and then the party that I did not end up missing my family too much. I felt sure that I would shed some tears, as I often do when missing my family. Though we are of Mexican descent, we take a lot of pride in being American and Independence Day is very celebrated in my familia. Happy Fourth of July to my beloved family! I love you all so much. I would really love to be home one Independence Day in the near future.

Anyway, we had a great time. I believe that even the kids had a blast. We ended the night with fireworks. We planned to put them up on the projector but alas we had not the cable. You are forgiven Mike.

Hamburgers and hot dogs, macaroni and beat salad, BAKED BEANS, and orange soda cake were on the menu. Everything was DELICIOUS!! Nia took one look at my plate and said, "that is a lot of food, I really dont think that you will be able to eat all that". Needless to say, I did not go back for seconds. (and I left enough on my plate for her to not be able to say that I ate ALL that food). LOL! We had a great Fourth of July. It was truly special. We missed all of you that are away. Happy Independence Day to everyone again. God bless us, and God bless America.

Pizza

2009-07-03T20:22:00.000-07:00

Today I made pizza and the Hancocks came over and had a piece. It is quite easy and just takes time to make. But it is worth it. The Hancocks have been here over two weeks and Katie took one and said, "I love you Sandra". Hee hee.

There are so many things that I never made back home. I guess it is just a matter of missing some food so much that I just decide how to make it myself. That and I like to feed people. Must be the Mexican in me. One of my favorite things to make when we just got married was making donuts. I would make the dough and Nixon would cut it and i would fry them. Then our old folks would enjoy them. I might just make some tomorrow morning.

I've learned to make pizza, bread, homemade cakes and icing, brownies, and many more yummy things. I don't know if i really like to cook and bake all that much. I just like having a taste of home. And my husband likes it.

My next goal is to make cinnamon buns. They seem so easy. I would love them with pecans though.

A really really hot day!

2009-07-03T20:12:00.000-07:00

Nixon and I agree that today was the hottest day of the summer so far. Nixon said he realized today at about 5:30pm when he grabbed a glass to put ice and a soda in it and he said it felt hot, like it had been left in the sun. "Holy Cow", was his expression.

I woke up this morning very wet. It was sweat. I felt exhausted before I even got out of bed and the really cold water felt really good. I told Nixon I just did not feel well. My head felt fuzzy and I just kept sweating. I peeled some plantains for breakfast and at about the 6th plantain, the sweat(felt more like water) was just running down my face and getting in my eyes.

I felt bad off and on and at midday Nixon told me to go take a nap. I woke up in a sweat about 1 hour later.

I led worship and I took my little cloth. After the second song, I had to take off my glasses and wipe cause the sweat was in my eyes. At the time of offering, my forearms began to drip.

It has been a really really hot day. It has been a challenging day.

Also on my birthday

2009-07-01T10:15:00.000-07:00

I honestly thought i would learn a third language a lot faster than the reality. I have been in Haiti since April 2007, more than 2 years now. I am not fluent. I can defend myself (as us Mejicanos would say). I watch Haitian TV and all but i really need to spend a set amount of time studying each day. This is one of my new goals.

While taking a walk with Nixon, on my birthday, we ran into a group of dark french speaking ladies. I heard a couple of Creole words(which happen to be some of those words that are identical in French). I took off speaking Creole with the lady who asked us to take some pictures for her. She looked at me and laughed kind of nervously and started to speaking to Nixon again. Nixon had just enough time to say, "babe, she doesn't understand, she doesn't speak Creole". I felt so embarrased. When they left Nixon laughed his head off remembering how I had stepped out and very proudly began to speak Creole. He would remember, play out my speaking, and then play out the lady and her blank response. I love to hear my husband laugh but Come on, give me a break!

My Birthday

2009-07-01T09:03:00.000-07:00

Ok, my birthday was a month ago, well....almost. My husband and I were with Faith Christian, shopping for some souvenirs. My husband turns to me and says, "so what do you want me to buy you?". He is saying this while looking at the souvenir bracelets. I asked him why he wanted to buy me something. His response,...."you know why". I, very discreetly, lost it. I calmly(yeah right) informed him that I didn't want any beads or souvenir stuff as gifts for my birthday. "I want silver or gold, I want you to spend money babe, cause I am worth it!" Blink Blink was pretty much his response. The next day was my birthday and I was having a rather blah day since he was not gonna have to go to Port to drop off the team cause it was my birthday but then found out he had a class to attend till I dont know when. Nixon came home around 3pm with a jewelry set with that turquoise stone that is found in the Dominican Republic. He also came home with a bottle of Carolina Herrera perfume. I felt wonderful, pampered, spoiled. Then we went out to dinner with the HCH kids, Danny and Leann to Cap. Nixon and I took a lovely stroll. It was a nice birthday. Mimi, the hotel manager sent a piece of cake to me and the band sang happy birthday. It was really cute. I had a nice birthday. Thank you to everyone who sent me well wishes and love.

Are we truly "helping"?

2009-05-05T11:08:00.000-07:00

I attacked my household chores yesterday. My house was pitiful. Now I only need one room to clean and organize. It is difficult when you come back, your husband has been home alone, and you have your regular work plus organizing two suitcases of stuff you brought back. I like getting the stuff but not really creating homes for all the stuff. Anyway.
As I was cleaning my office/pantry, I began preparing my girls bags. Nixon went grocery shopping during my time away and he got a few things we needed plus bought our monthly amount of groceries for our "ladies". Nixon and I buy a certain amount of groceries for Lucette's family and Madam Jan's family on a monthly basis. We do this to help them, to bless them. Nixon and I talked about it yesterday. Nixon questioned whether we are doing the right thing. Both these women have children but they also have "husbands". "Are we taking the sense of responsibility away from these "kings of the domain"? In a sense I believe we are. But even when we are not helping these ladies, meeting the families needs does not seem to press their husbands urgency to "step up".
Haiti is filled with this problem. It seems women here are expected to do the nurturing,cooking, cleaning and also do the providing.
How about when women have 3 or 4 children and they want to give away their children to local orphanages? Does this truly help them or does it rid them of their responsibility? Does it rob them of the lessons of life? Does it minimize the impression of "cause and effect", of "action and consequence"? Where does the helping end and the crippling begin? Do we sometimes start a "dependence" mentality. Is it possible that we sometimes take away Haitian's ability to think, make decisions, or provide for themselves? Scarry.
This is just another line of thought that increases my urgency to run to the Lord in prayer and truly make sure that we are doing God's work, according to His knowledge and wisdom, ....not our own.

"Two worlds"

2009-05-02T21:57:00.000-07:00

I just got back from a visit to Texas. I am exhausted. There was a lot that happened during this week and it felt like the visit was a lot longer. Yet not long enough somehow. I was sitting in Fernie's salon. He has been cutting my hair for years now. As he was snipping off 3 inches, he asked me, "do you ever get up in the morning and say 'what the heck am i doing here'?" Funny he should ask that. There have been many of those mornings during the last two years.

It is so out of this world to think that Haiti and the U.S. are even on the same earth. I stood out in my mom's parking lot on Thursday night and just felt the nice cool desert air and listened to the silence of far off traffic underneath the city lights. And now I am sitting here writing this blog as I listen to the voodoo drums roll and the sing song chants at a neighbor's home. Two worlds.

As I sit here thinking of what to write next, I see a big strong arm reaching into such a diverse globe. Nothing makes sense if it is without the good news of Jesus Christ. Underneath us all are some very basic sins like lust and corruption. We are all so different but very much the same. We can all see our need for unconditional love and belonging. We all long to feel special and we all desire to leave a legacy behind. I want to leave the certainty of Truth in as many hearts as possible. I want to leave hope to a dying world, beauty. I want to really "live", all of my days, in this life and the next.

Underneath the rolling drums and the distant sound of traffic is perfection and a perfect Creator who knows me and loves me more than I know. I just can't understand the wonderful fact that He loves everyone else the same.

Amazing.

Another Birthday

2009-04-21T10:16:00.000-07:00

When I met Nixon, April 10th of 2007 I was there to celebrate his birthday. Then we were married and we had a little surprise birthday at HCH. Larry was a big part of making that happen. This year I thought I would make him a special birthday guy day. I made his cake a day early and then got busy around 10 am on the day of his birthday. Nine hours later, I had a houseful of 20 boys and guys, around 17 full size pizzas, chips, sodas, a Mr. Bean movie(thanks Leann). As I put the last two pizzas on the table, I went to spend a little time with Leann. Way too much tostesterone in my own house. The house was alive, filled with laughter, and the love of my life was having a great time. I am very satisfied. I pray the Lord blesses my husband with a heart completely devoted to his God. I pray He grows in maturity and remains a good man. He is a wonderful husband. I love him so very much. I can't imagine my life without him.

People Watching

2009-04-18T18:13:00.000-07:00

Little did I know that I like to people watch. LOL! The Mangine Team enlightened me with this. But I think most of us here in Haiti are people watchers. As I was helping Lucette clean up the second floor today I saw a woman run after another woman with a rock in her hand. She flung it at her and proceeded to scream her head off. Of course it only took a few moments for local Haitians to flock around, watching and listening. I watched as they mocked the angry lady and as other Haitians hung over their balconies, watching so closely that they looked as if they were about to fall below. Funny. Later I heard our neighbor's dog yelping in pain. I often hear the dog yelp but don't think much of it. This time I saw the young boy dragging the dog by one hind leg as he swatted the dog with his other hand. The dog yelped in pain. The boy's sister and older "caretaker" laughed as they watched. I became angrier as the boy held the poor dog's hind leg all around the yard. He would kick him, and the younger sister would kick the dog as well. As the group reached the back of the yard, the seemingly 2 year old boy picked up a little branch and leaned into the dog as well. I have one word, "IGNORANCE". How do you fight against something like that? I haven't much of an idea. I at least have to talk to the kids. I might try having a casual conversation with them tomorrow. It pains me to see animals treated like this.

Tonight I am enjoying the cool night air out here on the balcony. My husband has been talking for hours and I am anxious to spend time with him. I watch as couples flirt on the street below. Mother and daughter walk hand in hand, men buy bread, a group of lockarmed giggling girls walk down the street, and Eli Rah comes back to the house from I dont know where:? Also, out of 10 motorcycles, only one put on his blinker to turn at the end of our street. 3 out of the 10 didn't even have brake lights. Funny,....and dangerous. Some of you wanted to know what we do when we don't have teams? Nixon deals with the unexpected and I often sit, serve, and just wait as patiently as I can. It is always hard when a team leaves though. It kind of feels like they take a piece of us with them. That is how Nixon puts it. :) God bless you all!

"Simple stories"-Phat or Fat?

2009-03-10T11:04:00.000-07:00

I was married 15 months ago and was at least 10 pounds lighter then. I continued to lose weight for the next six months. HCH Nannies approached my husband in concern, "your wife is losing weight, what is wrong?" (what?#!?)

Last Sunday, I was walking home from church. We have a very large deaf community that goes to our church. Nixon walked behind me along with some of our boys. I passed one house where a young man sat outside. As I was passing, he sang, "I wanna know what love is.." LOL!! Later my husband told me he wanted to sing out, "why don't you ask your mom to s.h..o..w you". LOL!!

As i was nearing our building, I felt someone coming up on my left hand side. It was one of our "deaf" boys from church. He obviously did not say anything but had an "ear to ear" smile. I said hi and then he proceeded to motion, grinning the whole time. He pointed to me, then held out his arms around his belly and puffed out his cheeks. My interpretation, "ou pi gwo". Translation, "you are fatter,.....thumbs up". I politely accepted the compliment(?!) and kept on laughing as he continued to walk ahead. What a different world I live in. I would have been either crushed or would have socked that person if I was back in the States. Here, not quite the same. As I reflect on my struggle to lose weight in a carb enamored country, I can't help but giggle. And yes, I would still love to lose 30 pounds, no matter the compliments I might lose as a result.

Recipe for Haitian Spagetti

2009-03-07T16:14:00.000-08:00

Here is the recipe for spagetti, haitian spagetti. Boil 1 pound of spagetti noodles. Be sure to add salt to your water. As they are boiling, mash up 2 or 3 long green onions, with one chicken bouillon cube, as well as 3 garlic cloves. cut up some white onions and set apart. When your spagetti noodles are almost ready, drain it until there is only a little water left and set aside in another bowl. Set the pot on the stove again and add about 4 tablespoons of oil. When the oil is hot, Fry up your sliced hot dogs or any meat of your choice. Then add your spice mixture and simmer on a real low flame. Dont let it burn. Let it float in the oil and simmer without browning. Add about 3 tbsp tomato paste, and let it simmer as you drain your noodles completely into another bowl. Use the noodle water to add to the tomato paste. The tomato paste will turn thick as you continue to stir. Let it simmer and fry up real nice as you move it around. Add your noodles as you continue turning the noodles to get the sauce mixture to evenly coat the noodles. Then let it fry on the bottom to make it crispy, dont turn any more, just let it toast. Let it toast for about 7 minutes on a low flame. Dont cover. Then turn it off. Let it sit for about 10 minutes. Top off with some raw slices of onion. Try with a dollup of ketchup(haitian ketchup is better) and a half dollup of mayo, and dont forget the Louisiana hot sauce (hotter here in Haiti). Voila, Haitian spagetti. Enjoy! Modify ingredients to your liking the next time around. Add more chicken bouillon for saltier spagetti or less for less salty, more tomato paste for a deeper red spagetti, add less oil for health consciousness, that kind of thing. :)

Hope

2009-02-19T08:52:00.000-08:00

Hello Church,

The life in Haiti is difficult for many reasons. Today I realize the greatest battle that is fought is hopelessness. Life here seems so dim sometimes, the hope for a better future barely visible at all. We had a team last week, from North Carolina. The group was a medical team and saw a total of about 2000 people during the week. The last night of clinics, one of the team members burst into tears. She verbalized her concerns about how she felt they only put a bandaid on the physical problems that people have but really didn't make a difference at all. I could feel the heartfelt sorrow and hopelessness that she felt. We deal with it so much here. I believe that I deal with it sometimes by just not thinking too much about it at all. But does the Lord stop thinking about the person that suffers, hungers, is in despair. Should I just be numb to it, or should I weep and pray,....pouring out my heart before the Lord for these people? The latter is not the easiest but clearly it is right. Even as I write these words, tears stream down my cheeks. We live our lives in comfort, having treats, having outings, being bored as I have been for the last couple of days. And at the same time, so many suffer. It just blows my mind to realize it. I don't understand it. A young woman started to work with us about a month ago. She is the daughter of a woman who has been working with HCH for a long time. Lucette is 27 years old and had 5 beautiful children. Her 9 month old baby died a few months ago in her sleep. My husband said that they say the baby was the most beautiful one. When it was proposed that Lucette start to work for the ministry, cleaning and washing for the team floor, I was thrilled. I knew she had been through a difficult time and that she was poor. I met her and though she could not clean as I liked, I had an incredible patience and love for her. I asked to meet her children. She brought the two girls and later the two boys. They are absoulutely beautiful, I was struck by their good looks. My heart is just so mysteriously fond of this family. Nixon and I send goodies to the children and think of them so much. This morning I asked Lucette if she ate, I had some leftover porridge. She said, "no". I asked if her kids ate and that was a no too. Nixon then proceeded to ask her why this was so if she is getting paid. He reminded her that she was just given additional money a couple of days ago for some wash she had done for a team. "What happened to that?", he asked. She said she had given it to people. What!I walked away and let my husband talk to her, knowing my husband would fill me in on all she said. She lives with her man's mother. Her four children and her and her man live in one room. Her mother in law and her children live in another room. And there is another couple of rooms rented out to others. All of the people know that she is working. Before she was working she would look for work, washing or doing anything she could to help her man provide. He works in construction and works whenever he can find work. But even before she was working, it was the same. There are so many people living together. When the family is not there, people come into the room and look through the families things. They take anything they find whether that is money or food. If the family gives the people nothing, the people around them come with stories that would break your heart or with persistence that cannot be fought, and the family feels there is nothing to do but give the money. As Lucette told her story, she laughs it off. Perhaps if she did not, she would be driven to madness. They are stuck. They have no money, no savings, no room to call their own. The people live off of those that have anything. If she cooks, all bring their bowls and scowl if they are given too little. The children are left with a morsel. The boys came to the house last week and I had given them a muffin. I thought I would just delight their taste buds with a sweet treat. I did not know that they probably had not eaten anything that morning. Just thinking of the injustice makes me so angry and all I can do is cry. How can a person fight against such things? How can this family move forward? What is the solution for Lucette's family? What is the solution for the countless number of families going through similiar situations?How can Nixon and I make a difference, even a dent in such poverty, ignorance, evil? How can our ministries make a difference?I honestly don't know. But I know Him who does know. I know Him. I have walked with Him, I have felt His comfort and seen him do marvelous things. He knows, He sees, He hears. I am struck by the fact that my tears and my compassion are nothing compared to His tears and compassion. I know many heartbreaking families, He knows them all. His heart breaks for every one of them. Most importantly, He has not forgotten them. He will not forget them. Knowing that gives me hope. Through this hope I pray and then move,... in faithfulness to my Master, The LIVING God. I am His servant. We are His servants. Blessed be Your Name Lord, Blessed be Your Holy Name. God bless all of you, Sandra & Nixon Altidor (serving Him in Haiti)

Our life at the Village

2008-11-01T16:26:00.000-07:00

I would love to start posting some blogs again, haven't done it in such a long time. Life here in Haiti is busy in a very different way. And in almost 1 year since our marriage, we have gone through a lot of ups and downs. But i must testify to the fact that the Lord has been more than faithful.This was our life at the Village. We spent the first 9 months of our married life together here. Nixon's day consisted of leaving our little two room house at seven or eight in the morning.

He would leave to do his HCH ministry stuff. He would run around all day and depending on how busy his day was, he would come home between two or five.

Then he would catch up on our day and visit with the elderly. We ussually did not have electric till eight so we would sit and sing or just talk to the old folks.

They were nice peaceful nights. The village of hope" was in Cyvadier, in the outskirts of Jacmel. We loved the peace and Quiet at our dear "Village of Hope". We miss it.

My day consisted of waking up at 6am. I would make my hubby a nice breakfast then i would give the elderly their medication as well as sit with Benoz, to lift some songs up to the Lord in prayer. They were special times. Often i would give my elderly women a pedicure or just sit and talk for a while, giving them some TLC. Then it was off to handwash clothes, iron, or clean house apart from try to find time to go somewhere where i could have internet access so I could answer emails and write updates.

Pluses: having peace and quiet and being able to do things at my own pace.

Downside: Was a bit lonely at times. And we were always on call.

We loved our Village home and we continue to love our elderly.

In August of 2008, Hurricane Dean swept through and when we heard the wind dying down, the mountain broke and we found ourselves in the middle of a mudslide as well as a flashflood. The Village of Hope was lost on that day and Nixon and I lost our little home.

With that came a lot of changes. Strangely, those changes turned out to be wonderful ones.

Helping our Community

2008-05-27T09:36:00.000-07:00

Everywhere we go in Cyvadier, children call out our names. It would seem that the Lord is preparing us to be able to impact lives for Jesus. The other day one boy came to the Village to ask for Nixon. The little boy explained that he was not being allowed to go to school anymore because he did not have shoes. He showed Nixon his torn shoes and Nixon then shared it with our good friend Michelle who gave the boy shoes. The Lord is opening up all sorts of doors for us to be able to do good in our area and give the Lord all the credit for that.

Lancia is a 15 year old girl in our community. She is the girlfriend of one of our good friends who has gone to the Dominican Republic in search of a good job and steady income. Two months after he left, his mother approached Nixon with a problem, that her son's girlfriend thought she was pregnant. Leann, HCH, gave Nixon a pregnancy test and I did it. Lancia tested positive and has a bad home environment, no money, and no real support. Madam Robert is the mother of our friend Schiller, the baby's father. She really wanted the baby aborted and Nixon convinced her that that was not an option. Danny, Director of HCH, gave us all his support in helping Lancia. Since then, Lancia is now 5 months pregnant and Nixon and I try to find things for her to do and we pay her a little every week. Though our finances are tight, we want to put the "put others ahead of ourselves" into practice. We are grateful that the Lord is giving us opportunities to help those in our community. Blessed be the Lord. May it be for His glory and not our own.

Haiti

2008-05-27T08:40:00.000-07:00

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere though it was once called the Pearl of the Carribean. It began as a French colony and thrived in the 18th century due to importation of large members of African slaves. Slaves revolted and declared their independence in 1804. Since then unrest and political turmoil are common to see. It's poverty is striking, 80% live in poverty. The people are plagued by a lack of education, many times due to not having enough money to pay for tuition, uniforms and the books needed to get an education. There isn't enough work and so many families are starving. Yellow hair on children is common to see. The Haitian people very often are involved in voodoo, looking for that chance to escape misery. It seems like one voodoo holiday after another around here. And yet it is an island in the Carribean. The water is beautiful and (where there isn't deforestation) it is lush. The weather is always warm, too warm and humid for me. The people are friendly and curious when it comes to foreigners(blancs). And Haitians are very hardworking, it always surprises me that even though life is so hard for them (having to haul water daily, cook on coals, and handwash) they still smile so much and often sing as they work. There is nothing like Haiti and I know that the Lord Jesus longs for all His Haitian children to come back to Him. This is why my husband and I are serving in Haiti, to reach the Haitian people for Christ.

The Children of Haiti

2008-05-18T13:37:00.000-07:00

They are beautiful! They run and play and yet they are accustomed to work as well. Many of them haul water and the girls handwash at an early age. They are better than I am at the handwashing thing. It is also common to see the children taking care of their siblings. They walk miles and miles to get to school. Sadly, many stop going to school at an early age. And sadly, many eat once or no times a day. Hunger is an epidemic in Haiti. Way too many children are malnourished and have yellow hair as well as bloated tumies, ussually filled with worms. They are very beautiful. Michelle, a fellow missionary friend, and I often talk about these Haitian children being the most beautiful children we've ever seen. Nixon and I both love children. They often come to the gate of the Village and yell out "Monsieur Nixon" in hopes that Nixon will give them candy. No matter what happens, they always seem to be smiling. Nixon and I had the opportunity to work with children when we were working with YWAM Jacmel and since then have had the opportunity to teach them English and we are now taking charge of a Junior church program at the church we attend here in Haiti. We are proud to say that we have 50-80 kids on a weekly basis, who are learning more about who God is. We are assisted with our Junior church program by HCH, Directors, Larry, and the children of HCH. We have a lot of fun with the kids, often doing skits, learning choreographies, and doing little presentations for the church who meets downstairs. Originally we started the program because the church had grown so much and the children no longer fit downstairs. You never know what the Lord has in store. Nixon and I will also be starting a children's Bible hour on Saturday mornings and taking advantage of that love that the children have for us so that we can introduce them to One that is SO MUCH GREATER!! AMEN?!

Nixon's Birthday!

2008-04-28T20:47:00.000-07:00

April 20th was Nixon's Birthday! On this same day is actually my mom's birthday as well. How weird huh? And it was also Adolph Hitler's birthday. Ok, that was way out there.

The 20th was a Sunday so we started with our junior church program. I had made Nixon a little cake witch turned out to be a disaster. I have made so many cakes in Haiti. I am known as a very good baker and the cake i made for my husband broke so badly. Go figure. But it was good. We had a piece with strong Haitian coffee. Good stuff. Then we went to lunch at the Cyvadier Plage hotel. Nixon had a nice fish platter. It was yummy. The whole time i am trying to hide the fact that our HCH family is going to throw Nixon a special birthday bash. We were to have a meeting at HCH on Monday but Danny supposedly just could not fit us in on Monday so it had to be Sunday. Nixon was so disappointed that we had to attend a meeting on his birthday. After lunch we gave our seniors a piece of cake and then off to the meeting we went. Oh wait, we called momma earlier to wish her a happy birthday but then Norma called us at mom's birthday party and passed the phone around to my sisters and grandma and brothers so they could say Happy Birthday to Nixon. This means so much to Nixon, especially because onlya small piece of the family has met him. Nixon even got to talk to his much loved niece whom he also has not met, Juli. She makes him smile. He was still floating on clouds when off to the meeting we went. We started our meeting when Leann, Danny's wife flies in the office and shouts that the kids are fighting upstairs. The whole time shouts and screams are coming from upstairs. Nixon flew out the door and up the stairs and had Surprise, Happy Birthday flung at him, along with lots of laughs. It was definitely a surprise. He loved it. His best friend Larry funded the party. Danny supplied drinks. And our dear friend as well as one of the nannies of HCH, Naomi, made the spagetti and cake. We all had a great time. God graced us so much. It was a wonderful, blessed day for my wonderful husband. May God bless him with a life of love and dedication to Him.

Our Junior Church Program

2008-04-23T12:31:00.000-07:00

We have a junior church program that we put together each week for anywhere from 50-100 kids. We ussually average 70 now. It is like a weekly VBS program. Nixon starts with worship, then Sandra does the lesson/story and then we break the kids up into 3 groups. We then transtition each group into the different classes until the children have had an opportunity to do all the activities. Ussually we have a craft room, a game room (ussually attached to the scripture of the week, and another activity such as choreography or drama. This program takes a lot of time to prepare but it is definitely rewarding to see these children learn more about Jesus.

Joy In Hope/Haitian Children's Home

2008-04-23T12:07:00.000-07:00

Nixon works with Haitian Childrens Home/Joy in Hope Ministries. Nixon is the Director of outreach ministries. Haitian Children's Home is the name of the orphanage under Joy in Hope Ministries. The ministry consists of an orphanage, a school sponsorship program, two schools, vbs's, and children's programs. This ministrie's dream is to own a piece of land not too far from our home at the Village. After purchasing this land, a new home would be built for Haitian Children's Home and Danny Pye's (director's)family. Afterwards, another home would be built for Nick and Gwen's orphanage and then eventually build 6 more homes to act as orphanages for 6 years and up kids. These kids are ussually unwanted and there are not many orphanages in Haiti that will take them. The land would develop into a Christian community that would eventually have a vocational training school, a clinic, a school, and a pastoral training center. HCH would also want to stay involved in the Haitian communities around the land, keeping sponsorship programs and youth programs going that would benefit the community and be a light for Christ. This is a wonderful ministry and though Nixon is more involved, I am involved as i can be with the kids, the Pye's and vbs's, as well as the children's programs. We are very proud to be a part of this ministry and their dream to reach Haiti for Christ. To see more pictures and info on our kids, visit haitianchildrenshome.org.

Who are we?

2008-04-22T11:58:00.000-07:00

I am Sandra, Nixon's wife, and i am from El Paso, Texas in the United States. I am Mexican American. And I am Nixon Altidor, husband to my beautiful "gordita". I am from Port Au Prince. I am Haitian. Together, we work with Haitian Children's Home and The Village of Hope. We love the Lord and want to do our best as we serve in Haiti, to make Christ known to these people. And we want the Haitian people to turn away from satan, who often satisfies that immediate gratification that these people are looking for. We both know that we are meant to serve as missionaries here in Haiti. Is it for a time? We don't know, but we want to be faithful with the task that the Lord has given us. We love each other, we love the Lord, (and even though it is hard many times) we love being missionaries here in Haiti.

Married on December 08, 2007 in Jacmel, Haiti

2008-04-16T13:58:00.000-07:00

Nixon and I met in April of 2007. We were both on staff at the YWAM mission in Jacmel. We became good friends and later prayed about starting a relationship that would lead to marriage. We were good friends for 3 months, dated for 3 months, were engaged for 3 months and then got married on December 08, 2007. My mother, my friend Yoli, my best friend Norma, and my sweet grandmother joined us in Haiti. Nixon's father who lives here in Jacmel, attended as well. We have been married for 4 months and are on a journey to know God and each other. Our goal is to be a light for Christ in Haiti. We want the people or Haiti to turn away from satan and to Jesus Christ. We want them to have the joy and satisfaction that we have as a result of belonging to our Lord Jesus.