Creole Service in Nashville

A couple months ago I found out that a Haitian congregation meets at Nashville First CON. It was just amazing to discover that although we are a thousand miles from home, brothers and sisters of the same "lang" (language) are meeting just an hour away. After several attempts to find out details about when and where services were being held, I spoke with a very nice church secretary a couple weeks ago who told me they have services on Sunday mornings at 9AM and Sunday evenings at 5PM.
By around 8:00 yesterday (Sunday) morning, the kids and I were on the road to Nashville. Knowing that in both Latin and Haitian churches (and probably many others) it is customary for guests to say a word to the congregation, the kids and I began thinking of maybe a chorus to sing in Creole. Memorized songs can actually be easier than impromptu greetings because you have all of the correct words memorized. :)
Sunday school actually started at 9:00, so the three of us joined the ladies' class....although since Kyle and Megan discovered that most of the kids speak English they might be tempted to the children's class next time. Of course it took a minute to remember some of the proper greetings.....Bon jou. Ki jan ou ye? Bondye bene ou..... The ladies were very kind, and pretty soon we found our Creole tongues again. :) The lesson was on Acts 1:1-14 and focused on our "Jerusalem"....ministering to the people who are around us...being content to wait in our Jerusalem even when the situation is difficult.
We moved on to church and ended up sitting next to one of the tambourine players. :) Of course the singing is one thing I miss most about our church in Haiti. This congregation projects the words of the songs they sing onto the wall, so we could sing along even though we did not have our Chants D' Esperance song book. The most meaningful thing was when four teen girls sang "Because He Lives" in English and Creole. That brought back memories of a sound byte Todd's cousin "accidentally" captured of displaced quake victims singing the same hymn on the Nazarene campus one night in February.
http://www.nazarenemedialibrary.org/MediaView.aspx?mediaId=3479e093-7de7-41af-af1c-6ea27362bcc9
The message was from John 5 about the crippled man at the Pool of Bethesda, especially focusing on Jesus' question, "Do you want to get well?"
What a special time of fellowship we had after the service, too. It was fun to see people sticking around to visit. Although the kids still do not know enough Creole to understand the whole service, people did take time to use a little English and talk to them about the things they do know.

The rest of the afternoon was spent with Todd's younger brother and family. We never seem to have pictures of those cousins playing together, and yesterday I figured out the reason!! They do not stand still long enough for us to get anything more than a blur. :) Megan has a great time dressing up with the youngest, Sally. Kyle, Brent and Zach are usually building forts out of blankets, chasing each other with plastic swords or chasing the squealy girls. Dale and Rose (the parents) are our all-time favorite game-playing friends (although the Whites in Haiti were becoming close rivals for that position before we left), and we can usually twist Samantha's arm to play with us. She is such a sweetie.....even though she officially became a teenager last year. Yikes! We are thankful for all of the family God has placed around us and allowed us to spend more time with recently.

Singing

I woke up this morning, my heart bursting with praise. Old hymns like "Such Love," "Constantly Abiding" and "He Lives" and choruses like, "God Will Make a Way" just came from nowhere! Does every day start so joyfully and optimistically? Not necessarily. But I am discovering that joy and contentment are more of a choice than I ever before realized. The hope and grace God offers us with each new day is amazing. I do feel sad for those, both Christians and not, who cannot see past rules and the failures of others to experience these blessings. What if our kids were like that....not able to see our great love for them because we do not let them play in the street or eat only chocolate for breakfast? Anyway, I'm thankful for His grace and strength when we are weary.
There are moments of weariness along the road Todd, the kids and I are traveling these days, but there are also times of needed renewal. I know that is true for everyone, regardless of whether you are being faithful at the daily grind or find yourself strangely displaced from "normal." This difficult separation from Todd has allowed us to spend more time with my family and has probably made us appreciate each other and time together even more than before. It has certainly given me a new level of respect for all of the wives and kids left behind when their husbands deploy for a year at a time with the military!

Thanks to everyone who continues to pray for the MAF guys in Haiti and of course all of those still left with scars from the earthquake (jobs, houses and/or loved ones lost, emotional and physical injuries, little or no shelter as the rains begin.....). The overall picture in Haiti seems to have improved significantly since the quake hit, but there are still many hurdles facing those involved in the rebuilding process. It seems that a longer-term plan is being created, stores and markets have re-opened, limited electricity has returned to much of the city, debris has been cleared in many areas... However, just yesterday there were long lines at the gas pumps due to rumors of expected fuel shortages for up to several weeks. It seems that for ever two steps forward there is a step backward. Please pray that government officials and others seeking quick wealth and power would not prohibit the relief efforts but that everyone would be able to find a way to help their neighbor rebuild the country. It will be a slow process, but we are grateful to so many who have given time or money to send relief supplies down. Continue to pray for God to use this bad situation for good.

Korean/American Easter

When our neighbor had a sleepover for the kids in her Korean Sunday School class, she invited Kyle and Megan, too. They had a great time staying up nearly all night, meeting new friends. When we were all leaving the next morning, someone invited Kyle and Megan to participate in their Easter party/egg hunt in a few weeks.
We went but got lost on the way and missed the actual egg hunt. When we finally arrived some of the other kids shared what they had collected, and all was well. Lunch was a combination of American roasted hotdogs and hamburgers and a yummy Korean rice dish. Boy, can those ladies cook!! After lunch everyone roasted marshmallows on the grill. It was fun to hear how-to explanations for the first-timers in both languages. :) All of the kids played a very cooperative game of soccer with the young and old alike, and when we were leaving they invited us to a birthday party the next week. :) Very sweet group....
Todd was with us for a gorgeous Easter Sunday and then flew back to Haiti the next day. We are looking forward to seeing him again in two more weeks!!

Nashville Cousins, Creeks & Bikes

One weekend Todd was here, he and the kids visited his brother Dale and family in Nashville while I worked on homework. They went to a park to ride bikes, and although Kyle had practically no experience riding without training wheels he quickly found his balance and had a great time. Bridges apparently made him nervous, and one time he and the bike tumbled into a shallow creek, but he was soon on his feet and back to riding. His cousin Zach let him bring the bike back here to Clarksville to practice. Kyle is now super-speedy and can even do some little tricks now. Due to her brother's encouragement and some healthy competition, Megan has learned to ride, too!!

Time Out

The Monday morning after our big family weekend, we took the kids to school and then Todd and I headed to Gatlinburg for a couple nights. Mom and dad were AWESOME!! They negotiated schedules to accommodate school bus pick-ups and drop-offs, helped with homework, and took very good care of the grandkids. :) That was a great time for Todd and me just to talk and spend some time together. There was so much that I found out about Todd and the MAF/Haiti situation and so many things that I had forgotten to mention to him, too. We also had time to talk about deeper concerns, joys, expectations, anticipations, plans.... all of the things that get pushed aside as you deal with daily life.
Tuesday we woke up late and drove through the mountains and trees on the winding Blue Ridge Parkway on back roads that I am almost certain we took one time on Todd's motorcycle when we lived in East TN. We hiked a while on some beautiful trails, saw waterfalls....
Wed. we woke up EARLY and drove to our former home in Elizabethton, something we had not planned to do until we saw that it was only about another hr. and a half from where we were. Of course we wished that we would have had more time, but we did see both of our former land-ladies and several other friends in the few hrs we were there and made it back before the kids' bedtime that night. :)

Family

The past three months here have really flown! As I have mentioned before, family and friends have really come beside us and filled in the gaps. We are so thankful. Todd's last visit was very special. He flew from Haiti to ID and was able to spend a couple days with his parents and grandparents and even got to attend our home church before driving our van (which Todd's parents have taken care of while we have been gone) to TN for us to use here. He made the trip in a day and a half, with only one 5-hr snooze at a rest area. Gotta love books on CD!! He got here late Tues night during the kids' week-long spring break.
That weekend my sister Sarah and family came up for a conference her husband Craig had to attend in Nashville. It was great to have all of my siblings and the cousins on my side together. We celebrated Dorothy's birthday and the kids had a big sleepover one night, although we did manage to get a few hrs of sleep. :) Lots of great extended family time!!!

MAF in Haiti

As Todd arrived back in Haiti he found the chaos a little more structured as MAF’s role in the relief work shifts as the population’s needs shift. As regular commercial flights have begun to operate, the need to handle large numbers of international passengers (in cooperation with Missionary Flights International) is diminishing. As more aid is able to arrive via the seaports, less needs to be airlifted in. We are still making many flights each day to take food out to remote areas that are trying to support large groups of displaced people. Currently the MAF program has been loaned two turbo prop airplanes, both brand new Quest Kodiaks. They have allowed MAF-Haiti to haul a much greater quantity of food and people. One of the Kodiaks is an MAF aircraft ultimately destined for Papua, Indonesia. The other Kodiak belongs to Samaritan’s Purse and will be operating in Haiti through the end of March (thanks, Franklin). Todd got his first taste of turbine maintenance today as he learned how to do compressor washes.

Thanks for keeping our family and our ministry in your prayers. God’s hand on us has been especially tangible over these last weeks.

Carnaval Canceled

One amazing thing that we heard from friends was that the Carnaval celebration which is usually HUGE was practically cancelled as the entire nation was called by the president to pray for three days. Churches were packed, and the prayer and praise overflowed into the streets. Oh, how I pray for a change and rebuilding that will come from the inside, that will leave behind the past bondage to fear and allow the country of Haiti to rise from the rubble stronger than ever. I know that God can bring peace in the midst of the storm, a sense of untity and solidarity instead of blaming and division, honesty and integrity instead of an opportunity to exploit other's generosity.... What a chance for Christians to offer hope and help! Pray for Haiti's children and youth, especially.

Adjusting…but Remembering

We continue to adjust to life here, and our routine seems to become more “normal” each day. However, there is always a little tinge of sadness that gnaws at my heart in spite of our great blessings here. I know that the rainy season is creeping closer and closer each day, also bringing the possibilities of hurricanes and tropical storms. Right now the little tents made of sheets are keeping some people out of the rains that have begun, but we all know that they will not be sufficient..... News media seems to have moved on to new stories, but it does make me happy to still see signs of people here, so many miles away, still remembering. The kids' school is having a contest to raise money for Haiti relief this week. Our church is still collecting items for "Crisis Care Kits" (contains things like soap, toothpaste/brush, washcloth, shampoo...). The tremors continue, and recently there have been some strong ones that have caused new damage to buildings that withstood the original quake.

Todd’s Visit

Todd left for FL Monday, and by Tues. afternoon he was back in Haiti. We enjoyed almost three weeks with him here in Clarksville!! He was here for three of the kids' snow days, so they enjoyed some nice snowball fights. He had individual "dates" with Megan, Kyle and me, and then some time when we were all together. He was also here for important days like my mom's 65th birthday, Valentines Day and the SUPER BOWL!!! It was just the right amount of time for him to catch up on rest and enjoy some time with his brother and family in Nashville and my family here in Clarksville. Of course the ideal would be for us to all be together, but we know that this temporary arrangement is best for all.

Spring

The first signs of spring are visible here in Clarksville, TN, in spite of a few white patches of stubborn snow that refuse to melt. Although I do not expect real warm weather for another couple months, the temperature is slowly rising and the annual "bulbs" are starting to push through the frozen ground. Change, change, change......
The kids are doing well in school and are making friends. The public library is just across the street from their school, so we have gotten a membership and have been reading in the car, at home... Last night we started on Little House in the Big Woods, a Laura Ingalls Wilder book (the first in the Little House on the Prarie series) that I remember reading as a kid. :) Just behind their school is a learning center, which I visited for the first time this morning. It is packed full of all kinds of learning games and resources. So as we use our community resources to the max, I am hoping that learning will become even more fun for them.
Along with all of this learning, the kids are enjoying exploration in my parents' woods, playing with their Clarksville and Nashville cousins, and all of the special attention from their uncles, aunts and grandparents. Two of my brothers are expecting babies in the next few months, so soon there will be new little friends around!!