Six Weeks Home

We have officially been back home longer than our time away in Haiti.  It's been good to be home, strange to be home, definitely missing the  places and people we spent life with in Haiti, and strange to think we even did what we did!  Even now, I sometimes fuzz out of reality and just look around wondering where I am and what happened?  It is interesting the effect a mission trip, though very short overall, can have on you.  Maybe more strange is that so called reverse culture shock.  You think you are good when you first get home, everything is familiar enough, but it creeps up on you rather unexpectedly.  Then you think you have worked through it, and randomly there it is again.  Sneaky.  The past couple days, I've inadvertently driven "like a Haitian."  That helps.  Not sure how the motorists around me feel about it...

Yep.

 

Four weeks ago, I started my new position as a fourth grade teacher at a nearby university model school.  It's been great so far, and it is nice to be amongst an age group that can usually get my humor.  My last position as a kindergarten teacher did not offer that so much.  I teach in class Monday and Wednesday, then usually help with "home days" for our boys, as they go there now too.  This curriculum and method of education is packed with lots of work!  More work than the boys, or us, were previously use to as full time homeschoolers.  But it is good and we already see the boys adapting and learning much just in a month.  Veronica usually works the same days I am teaching so we have the same days off and can really do the family thing together.  This is a big piece to the ums model- time with family.  Even so, we are still just very busy.  On most days, too busy.  Truth be told, sometimes our trip this summer, and future possibilities, are not on our mind.  The Lord has a way of not letting us forget though.  Among many events since we returned, I had a birthday, and just a couple weeks ago this little guy turned seven!  That is something.  It also means our other son will soon be nine.  Wow.

7th 'Lego' Birthday.

We were blessed to have a couple friends from Haiti come to central Texas for a week.  They stayed with us a few nights, as well as a couple other friends from church.  They got a good taste of Texas in food, culture, and landscape.  For us, their time here was a terrific reminder of those future possibilities and permanent connections to Haiti.  A reminder that the world is not so big anymore, and Haiti is not that far.  Haiti is waiting. 


Stevens and Erisias leading an evening of worship at our church.  Awesome. 

The other big news, which I'm sure has spread just about everywhere by now, is we are expecting again!  This one is another, and yes somewhat unexpected blessing from Haiti.   Maybe even a stowaway you might say...  We are thrilled though.  We found out the last week we were in Haiti and had to keep quiet all this time, except for a few choice people who needed to know.  Baby will be here around March 27 give or take.  How will they change our future possibilities?  Maybe they are a part of the plan in an unseen way and things are just as they should be.  I tend to think so.  

The newest Hughes!



So as for the future possibilities, let's say there is a chance to be a part of an orphanage Christmas party in Port au Prince this December.  There is a chance of continued short term work next summer similar to this summer's work.  And there's a chance of a twenty-one month timeline to get to Haiti in a fulltime capacity.  These are things we have been thinking about.  These are the possibilities that seem right and have a peace about them.  We will see what happens and what the Lord has in store for us!  Thank you for your continued prayer as we seek Him out and what He is invited us too!
  

      "Eden Haiti" Granbouchi, Haiti.  2014?  2015?

 

Blessings,

Joshua 

Another Friend for You to Meet

So it turns out when you spend 5 weeks in Haiti it is very difficult to find the right words to share with people all that happened. Yes it was fantastic and hard and wonderful and challenging and eye opening and exhausting and awesome. Unfortunatly those words don't tell you very much. My hope is to tell you about some of the people we met and through sharing about them, you might understand a little about our time in Haiti. You already met Herwine (now I know how to spell her name correctly :)

Today I want to tell you about Keni. He is a 6 year old little boy who lives in Cabaret, Haiti just north of Port au Prince. Many things about this little boy touched my heart including the difinitive way he said "yes", like he had been raised speaking English and was about 18 instead of 6. His family attends church with Pastor Jackey who is also just amazing. I will tell you about him soon. Something that little Keni did one day just spoke volumes about how he had been raised. There is a hill/cliff type thing behind the church that you have to go down to get to the soccer field at Pastor Jackey's. Of course the little Haitian kids go up and down it like it is nothing. We had to be a little more cautious. One afternoon Ben decided he was done with all the kids messing with him and he wanted to go back up the hill for a little down time. Keni saw me heading up with Ben and he came too. He got in front of us and put out his little hand and helped my little boy all the way up the hill. Every once in a while he would get a little far ahead but he would turn around to check on us and run back to help. The fact that a little boy, the same age as mine, was so conscientious of others, just blew my mind. He knew that others are important. When they got to the top of the hill the boys raced their soda bottle cars up and down the floor of the church while the other moms, construction workers and I laughed, smiled and cheered them on.

People Are Important

Hi Friends!

Between shady internet access and no computer, it has been hard to do a blog post here in Haiti.  If you haven't been following us on Facebook or Instagram this is to let you know that we are alive and well!  We have had such an adventure and God has been so gracious to us and we aren't even at the half way point yet.  We have been a part of 2 different trips so far and we start our next trip tomorrow around lunch time.  The boys are having a blast.  Josh and I are trying to pick up some Haitian Creole.  This has been so good for our family.

Tonight I wanted to share about a young lady we met at the orphanage.  Her name Harwin, although I think I am spelling that wrong.  We met her on our first trip to Haiti 2 years ago.  We were only there a couple days for only a few hours, but she remembered us.  She was instantly drawn to Benjamin and asked if she could keep him.  She is one of just a few girls at Good Shepherd Orphanage.  Every morning she ran up to Benjamin and gave him a big hug.

On Wednesday Ben came down with a stomach bug.  He and I stayed back at the church.  Josh said all the children asked where Ben was.  Harwin made him a bracelet as a get well present.

That evening Ben had a fever and was feeling pretty bad.  Harwin had Sister Mona, the wonderful lady that runs Good Shepherd, bring her up to see him.

She sat with Ben and played and talked.  She rubbed his feet and sang to him and hugged him some more.  That young lady loved on my little boy like he was her own.  My little boy she had only met a few times.  Oh that I would be able to love like that. 

  

Here in Haiti relationships are important.  I love them for that.  They love with abandon and I sometimes feel like the Grinch with my heart two sizes too small in comparison.  

Imagine that- going to the poorest nation in the western hemisphere and learning to love more.  It begs the question- Who is really poor?

Love you all with this growing heart of mine!

Veronica

1 Week and Counting

Hey Friends,
Well we are 1 week 2hours and some change away from this little trip that has become a reality these last few months.   People keep asking how I am feeling.  "Are you excited, nervous, stressed, ready,....?"  The answer is well, - Yes! 

We have done our very best to plan out all the "to do's" over the last weeks to help with the stress/crazy level and that has helped a lot.  We have scheduled in date nights(thank you Kathy Russell!) and family/friend time and watched the Spurs totally run over the Heat!! which has helped us relax amidst the busyness of it all.  But what I have felt more in the last week is that we are being carried by the grace of God and the prayers of others.  It is almost a tangible thing.  I have lost count of how many people who have told us they are praying for us and thinking about us.  I want to tell them "I know!"  I shouldn't be as together as I am right now, so someone MUST be praying for us!  Keep it up!

Among all the emotions that I am feeling at any one time, is one that I didn't really expect.  I have felt so humbled.  Something about working with and among the people of Haiti seems like something sacred.  Almost like Moses and the burning bush.  Who am I to go do this work for you Lord?  I have felt similarly when taking care of the dying.  God is just there in a palpable way and you wonder why you have the privilege of being a small part of it.  The other humbling thing is the outpouring of love and support we have received.  It is something to have so many people in your corner.  We could not have made this trip without the financial and prayer support of so many, helping in ways we didn't know we needed, reminding us of things we didn't even realize.  It has been pretty amazing. 

So yes we are busy and a little crazy at times, but most of all we are beyond blessed and totally grateful.         

-Veronica

A Month Away...

As I begin to type this, according to our newly added Haiti Countdown clock, we are 26 days and some hours and minutes away from boarding a plane in Austin and, then the next day, arriving in Port au Prince.  Wow.  It's hard to put words to what you feel right about now before doing something like this.  Excitement.  Angst.  Surreal.  Yes, I am doing this...  Haiti is a real place, with real people, real needs that can be met, real friends from past trips live there, God is moving in big ways there and has invited me to join Him.  It's surreal I guess because the day to day stuff here, at least on the surface, seems so far apart from all of that. 

We've been busy working opposite shifts, and I've even worked "some" seven days a week.  Something I don't usually like to do (I really dig the whole Sabbath thing).  Homeschooling wrapped up and the boys have been "summering" already, and the Perspectives course came to a close with a big integrated project.  In the midst of all that, we have been preparing for Haiti in various ways.  Adding to the pile of supplies, visiting travel doctors, researching trip insurance, emailing with key people about various things that are part of this mission and so on.  But it seems like one day we will be here doing this, and the next we will be there doing that.  I'm not sure how a transition should look anyhow.  Even though these busy things now seem unrelated to Haiti, I think that's not entirely true.  Managing multiple things at once, making time for rest and seeking Him, worshiping in all you do, "working" with your family right there with you are things we will encounter in Haiti as well.  The enemy is sublte in his ways sometimes.  Business is inevitable but it doesn't have to keep us distracted (but it has some).  Finding our times of quiet and prayer are no longer a daily habit but almost need to be scheduled in, or if we aren't careful, they won't happen.  The interesting thing is, when a time of spiritual sustanence like that is missed, I feel it big time.  It's something like missing a meal.  I figure two things from that:  One, you can walk as close to the Lord as you desire.  Two, man how I need Him!   That's the weird thing, the closer you walk with Him, the more you need Him, or maybe it's the more of Him you want... 

This song was on the radio recently and has played through my head more than a few times the past couple weeks. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LuvfMDhTyMA

Yep.

The boys are official pelicans...  They've got the shirt now!  Recently a good friend helped resize these adult shirts to fit, and I think the boys really liked that.  They've worn them everyday since then.  It's been like 5 days. 

I realized today, that exactly one year ago marked my last day of my first year teaching fulltime.  After much soul searching and ado to find who I was career wise, admittedly the first year was a difficult one and ended not as many of us would have thought.  Definitely not how I thought.  I was left wondering, and with little confidence left in my ability as a teacher.  And it took me most of the following summer to break free of the stress that was that year, and process all that happened.  What a change a year more can bring!  Now, we're 4 weeks away from another fantastic trip to Haiti, in which this time, the whole family is a part of, I've regained my confidence as a teacher having homeschooled the boys and seeing the leaps and bounds they made in 9 months, and the future is bright for us.  We aren't clear what it will be exactly, but that does not matter.  We know He is with us.  Difficult things are inevitable, but now it's been my experience that in them you really see that God is there.   Recently, we were in Minnesota for some training for our work with PPM.  The Haitian pastor was there too and shared a personal story of when the earthquake hit and the events that followed for him, including his struggle to grasp the tragedy and answer the question of "what's next, what do we do?"  (As it turns out, PPM's parternship with Haiti came at this time.)  He related it to Job 42, and specifically verse 5: “I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees You."  Yes.

Have you seen the fundraising thermometer?  Yep, that's 79% of our goal and that is AWESOME!  We cannot thank you enough for helping us make this trip financially, and backing us with your prayer.  One other request though for the next trip, come with us!  

Join us in praying for:

• The teams from all over the US, about 1500 individuals, who will be serving in Haiti this summer (and those elsewhere through PPM)
• Safe travels and time in country for all involved
• Unity of the teams as they serve
• Seeking God, to glorify Him and be a part of His plan for Haiti and elsewhere
• Everyone's future involvement in missions- for those going this summer to go again, and those who have not yet gone, but will, to Haiti or wherever the Lord leads them

God's busy in Haiti, and He is busy in all the world.  He wants it to Himself, knowing there is no better place for us than in communion with Him.  Jesus has called us as the plan to reach those who don't know, and there is no plan B.  And He is worthy. 

Blessings,

Joshua