Author: Eric & Elisabeth

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The Newest Great Place to Stay!

The Ream family got to spend the past week as the first guest at the new Apparent Project guesthouse! I recently blogged about my love and respect for the Apparent Project HERE. So when Shelley Clay (my friend and founder of AP) told me that AP has rented this new guesthouse because the former guesthouse rooms located above the Apparent Project had been overtaken by AP artisans needs for more workspace AND that she needed someone to test out/help out at the new guesthouse I was more than happy to volunteer us! We tried to help as much as we could and having a nice pad to park it last week helped us out too (as well as appeasing my neverending need to decorate something)! Haiti houses don’t typically automatically come with such things that us foreigners (like those who will be the future guest here) often take for granted. Such things include running water, electricity, air conditioning and screens to keep swarms of mosquitos out. Since we are such foreigners but have lived in Haiti both with and without such things for the past year, we were the perfect candidates to test out the house to figure out what was/was not working before unsuspecting guest came knocking. I’m happy to announce that after a few days of getting power and water issues worked out, moving a few furnishings around and decorating a bit, we have declared this place the newest great place to stay in Haiti!
The AP guesthouse had a lot of help besides us to get the house ready!
Here you see one of several awesome AP painters working hard to make the house look great both inside and out!

You enter the spacious kitchen from the front door. It still needs a few decor pieces that the AP seamstress ladies are working on now (such as cute covers for all that under the sink storage).

To the left of the front entry there is this great eating space. Shelley is working on getting some chairs or benches now! 

To the right of the front entry you can relax in this spacious living room! It took me a few frustrating hours to figure out how to work with all this furniture and wall space, but it was worth it.
LOVE this room now!
Cute little 1/2 bath nook downstairs

Heading upstairs!

There are beautiful porches and balconies surrounding the house! And this one has what almost every Haiti visitor wants to enrich their camping feeling experience…a bed on the balcony! Cool breezes at night are a plus. But this is Haiti. Bring bug spray. 

Full bath (with bathtub/shower) that two bedrooms across this hall share.

The Blue Room 

The Yellow Room
(This room will be great for families…oh look to the left…an air conditioner!)

The Pink Room
Another great room for families!
We know because this is the room our kids picked out that we stayed in all week!
(Minus the air conditioner for us though it should be up and running for the next guest!)

The Pink Room has its own full bath too! 

So there it is…
The Apparent Project Guesthouse…
the newest great place to stay when you come to Haiti!

But we will warn you about one little thing. THIS little thing thinks he owns the house! And he will let you know that he owns the house not only at daybreak but ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT LONG! Perhaps this is all part of the Haiti experience too! But if you disagree you can tell Shelley what I did by day 3 which was…KILL THAT ROOSTER! My kids almost did. 

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The Other Side

Haiti shares the other side of the island of Hispaniola with the Dominican Republic. The other side is a whole new and different world. The culture is different. The language is different. And there are way different things to do and see and taste…things the majority of the population in Haiti will never get a taste of and cannot even imagine. It is hard to imagine such differences exist side by side. It’s still hard for me to imagine it because I haven’t been there. It’s hard to know that this other side exist and my girls cannot yet go there. I will wait to go with them. 

I told my guys that it wasn’t exactly fair that they were getting to visit a country I had never visited. Evan said, “It is too fair because you visited Haiti before all of us boys got to”. I suppose he had a point. Still, I’m a little jealous. And seeing the pictures made me a little homesick. But I’m so glad my guys got to go! It was a very quick 2 1/2 day trip with a lot of driving, but it looks like they fit in a whole year worth of fun! 

A huge thank you to our dear friends Miguel and Mairelis who are fellow missionaries in Haiti. They are from the Dominican Republic and the Ream boys were able to get the grand tour from the experts. It was also a chance for our boys to enjoy some summer fun together. Their boys Cadmiel and David are two of our boys best friends and are in the same school class together. Ethan and Evan will never forget this adventure! Praise the Lord for provision to be able to go and for precious friends with which to go! 

Since I wasn’t there and Eric isn’t here right now, I’m gonna let the boys tell all about it! 

“At the border crossing the floor was so slippery I fell on my butt.” -Ethan


After we crossed the border we still had to drive for a long time. The mountains were pretty and looked like Haiti. 
-Ethan & Evan


“I was so happy thinking about McDonald’s. If I opened my eyes they would pop out into the sky. Exclamation. Exclamation!”-Evan


“I really wanted to go swimming, but Daddy wouldn’t dig our swimsuits out of the car”. -Ethan


But I did not care about the swimsuit. 
The water was so cold. 
It reminded me of my home in Texas. -Evan


Lizards are not this big in Haiti! -Evan


These iguanas made me laugh so hard I dropped the whole bag of crackers! Then I fed them my Casinos (Haitian cookies). -Evan


“They were all running around and the big ones kept taking this one little one’s food. So I gave the little one 3 whole square crackers for himself. I almost stepped in their poop.” -Ethan


Mommy: “Evan, why is this cave here?”
Evan: “It is there to celebrate the Lord. But I think the sign said, ‘No boys allowed’. So I kicked it”. 

(Proud of the first thought. Humbled by the second)


What the sign really says.
But there are no spanish speakers present at the moment to interpret. And the boys don’t seem to remember anything but “No boys allowed”. 


Ethan thinks this cave has Indian markings.
Maybe that is what the sign said. 

“We are the kings of the world!”-Ethan
“Or the bunnies!”-Evan


These Indian markings were so fun to climb on…but then Evan almost pooped in his pants!-Ethan

(Evan always needs to go at the most inopportune moments)


“This dog had a goosebump so I was helping him. 
Then he didn’t have the bump anymore.” -Evan


“I don’t think that was a Haitian kenep? It tasted bad.”-Ethan

“This is their barn. 
This is where they get their water from. 
The pigs and the dogs drink from here.”-Evan
“This is the bathroom. 
They have to pee and poop in a hole. 
The water is for rinsing the pee.” -Ethan

(Elita Marguerite votes “bathroom”)


This was really cool. There were no tap-taps. The smooth road seemed to go on forever.
 -Ethan & Evan


But the party eventually ended. 
Until the next day!


I loved hanging out at the beach with my brother and friends! -Ethan


“This big tree log was there since we came. Maybe it has been there for 100 years! But that is just an estimation.”-Ethan

“I don’t think this is Cadmiel and David’s grandfather’s house.” -Ethan

(included because Eric took 3 pics of it so it could be significant)


This was something from Christopher Columbus days. -Ethan

“I think it was a church.” -Ethan



Mommy: “Why did Daddy take this picture?”
Ethan: “Maybe the palm trees”.
Evan: “Or because of the road and the cars”.
Mommy: “Is this different from Haiti?”
Evan & Ethan: “Yep”. 


Mommy: “Why did Daddy take this picture?”
Boys: “Because Mommy hates Wendy’s”


Mommy: “Why did Daddy take this picture?”
Ethan: “Because Mommy loves Baskin Robbins!”


Mommy: “How many food places did you go to?”
Ethan: “We just went here for the toys!”


You would think we have lived without American restaurants for a whole year!!!


Oh look! There’s McDonald’s…Evan’s happy place!


So of course we stopped by!


“Me, Cadmiel, and David got the same toys. But Ethan got a different one.”

(Happy Meal boxes came home with them and Mommy finally sneaked them into the trash weeks later.)


Mommy: “Ethan, why are you running?”
Ethan: “To catch the train because it started without me!”


We are heading to the zoo! -Evan


“That is a rhinoceros.” -Evan
“No. That is a cow. “-Esmée


“Hipopótamo”
Esmée: “Those are just pigs.”


Mommy: “No Esmée. Those are Hippos.”


“The flamingos were one of my favorite things. They were pecking their feathers and showing off.”-Ethan


“Daddy found this big leaf and I put it on my head. I look like a pirate of the caribbean. And I found a flamingo feather and brought it home to Mommy.” -Ethan


I was bumping everyone and we played two games! Ethan was coming to bump me here but I was driving and turned the wheel fast! -Evan

“I was wondering how fast this ride would go. It went fast.” -Ethan

This ride made my stomach hurt. -Ethan

“It made me dizzy wiggling up and down but it was fun.” -Evan

“There were a lot of choices.  But there wasn’t Epi’Dor or Mamacitas. We chose Burger King.” 
-Ethan & Evan

There is a movie theatre.
We watched the movie Brave. It was in Spanish. I understood it because Cadmiel told me all the words. -Evan

This is us in the movie. I am still holding my water but we already ate all the popcorn. I saw a real dog in the theatre. It was a female dog and it had 20 goosebumps on it. -Evan

Mommy: “Evan, what is a goosebump?”
Evan: “It is a little hurt spot.”

Sleeping in my bed. It was very hot. But we were very tired. -Ethan

We were at Cadmiel and David’s house. It was fun. Very fun. -Evan

We went to the store to get a lollipop. Cadmiel and David’s family owns the store. So we got the lollipop for free. -Evan

That is Cadmiel and David’s daddy and grandfather. -Evan

This is Mairelis and her family. -Ethan

Oh look! Just look at that road! What we wouldn’t give to have roads like this on our side in Haiti!

So now we know that the D.R. at least has Wendy’s, Sbarro, Baskin Robbins, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Burger King, TGI Fridays, AND Outback Steakhouse! Eric also told me he saw a Chili’s.

I asked Eric what this picture was about. He said, “It just reminded me of the Zach Potts family.” That made me more homesick.

(Zach is married to my childhood best friend Stephanee. Zach’s family owns a dairy farm in TX.)

The very next morning after we got back from the Dominican Republic, it was our first day of 3rd grade and 1st grade. We told everyone about our trip to the Dominican Republic!
-Ethan & Evan

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This is my Father’s world..in Haiti and Turkey!

This is my Father’s world: I rest me in the thought
Of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
His hand the wonders wrought.

We sang this song in church last Sunday, the day after surviving our first hurricane in Haiti. Certain words from this song have been playing through my mind all week. This has been a week of surviving while relishing in the truths of God’s Word. This is my Father’s world. He reigns over the wind and the rain. He reigns over the circumstances in our lives. He reigns over our wrestling hearts. 


This is my Father’s world. O let me ne’er forget
That though the wrong seems oft so strong, God is the ruler yet.
This is my Father’s world: the battle is not done:
Jesus Who died shall be satisfied,
And earth and Heav’n be one.
Eric was able to fly out of Haiti the day before the hurricane hit. Here is a little more information about the where and why. We cannot disclose details publicly at this time because of safety risks. 
See that mountain?
That is where Eric is now.  

This is probably what he is doing right now. 

This is the hotel where he is staying if/when he gets there.
Yesterday I received word that he needed to climb two days worth in one day in order to reach shelter and provisions.
He is now out of communication range. 

(click on link to read)

The Lord has provided in miraculous ways for Eric to be a part of the Turkey team since 2009. However, each year we have faced tremendous adversity to Eric going for one reason or another (several such reasons as explained in the link above). We have also experienced tremendous support. We consider it an immense privilege and honor to be a part of this project. Yet the sake of the project is not the only reason Eric has gone in the past and not the main reason he is there at this time. The main reason he is there at this time is to be a physical, mental, and spiritual support for my father who is the lead archaeologist on this project. Dad is getting up there in years and these conditions are very rough on him. Eric and my father are very close and my dad needs him. Dad asked that Eric come knowing all that we would be potentially sacrificing if he did. He would not have asked this of us if it was not really important. We want to honor our father as well as the rest of the team that raised all the funding for Eric to be there. This is not a glory seeking, male bonding, freeze to death and call it “fun” excursion. This is extremely hard work in harsh and unsafe conditions. These pictures were taken last year. We’ve been told the weather conditions are “not as good as last year”. 

We know that the project may or may not come to fruition. We might have a difficult time justifying Eric’s participation this year if it were not for the concern and love we have for dad and desiring to honor his request that Eric come. We received an e-mail two weeks ago from dad who was already there asking that Eric leave and come immediately. This request could have stemmed from a lack of oxygen, lack of food…physical and mental depletion on my dad’s part, and/or simply because he desired to share this experience with Eric and deemed it important enough to ask him to come. Whatever the case may be, we decided it was important enough for Eric to go. 

Another reason (besides dad and the actual project) that Eric has continued to go is the relationships he has been building with local families and individuals he has spent time with in Turkey. Several of these he keeps up with throughout the year on facebook and they look forward to Eric returning to continue their conversations each year. A few of these guys are with Eric as guides the entire time and the weather conditions often give way to much time in the tent talking over Turkish coffee. Eric sent me the following a few days ago among his prayer request…”I am sitting in the midst of Muslims who need to hear the truth of Jesus that yes He is a (the) prophet, but He is God, Priest and King too.” Sharing the gospel is always a good reason to go. We believe that we are honoring the Lord in the decision to do so and that He will continue to provide for us as we continue to submit to His authority and direction for our lives. 

We appreciate your prayers and support for our family especially during this time. The children and I are doing fine here in Haiti, though we miss Eric and life is not easy. We will be facing more transitions soon and we ask for prayers in this as well. We continue to have a peace that surpasses all understanding and trust God’s timing and plan for our family. We will try our best to keep everyone updated with what is going on in our crazy lives! 

Thank you for blessing our lives with yours. It is often difficult to connect through skies and seas but please know that our worldwide friends and family mean the world to us! 

This is my Father’s world, a wanderer I may roam
Whate’er my lot, it matters not,
My heart is still at home.
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New Friends, A Wedding Fiasco, and the Kids First Snorkeling Experience

One of our favorite places

One of our favorite things to do in Haiti is head to the beach as often as possible. We don’t get to do this very often because we don’t often have a vehicle to drive the 2 hrs it takes to get out there and it can often be very expensive for a family of six + (this particular day we had two +). We were invited to join our dear friends the Broersma family and got to meet other sweet missionaries the Hopp family beachside! The Hopp family lives and suffers for Jesus next to Kaliko beach. They were able to help us out with the expensive part of our beach trip since we were hanging with them on their stomping ground. Oh yeah. The Hopps have four kids, two girls and two boys like we do. And the kids all have E names like ours too! Their oldest son is also named Ethan. But our Ethan buddied up with their Elijah instantly. Our friend Emma was with us and the Hopp’s have a little Emma that buddied up with our Esmée. We had a really great time and so appreciate the hospitality and fellowship of our fellow missionary friends. A man with a boat came ashore where Ethan and Elijah were playing and suggested that he take them snorkeling. The boys thought that was a great idea. Since we didn’t have to pay for the beach and there was a wedding going on we were trying not to disturb, we decided to head out to sea and see something new. Esmée decided she would rather stay poolside with her new friend little Emma so she was not included in these pics. But unlike us she got first choice of hot food since we had just ordered lunch before deciding to jump on a boat. Esmée and the others that stayed ashore got to witness the wedding fiasco. Never a dull moment in Haiti! We also got stuck in the rain with a flat tire when we were trying to get back to a friend taken into police custody because we had his motorcyle papers in the truck we were driving! Like I said, never a dull moment around here! 
Wedding’s are a big deal in Haiti.
We had watched the guest arriving and waiting for hours.
The stage was set.
Musical tunes from familar disney movies delighted our children
 (American Tale’s “Somewhere Out There” seems to be a wedding favorite around here).
Wedding party arrived. Bride and Groom arrived.
The limo arrived.
We had never seen a limo in Haiti before.

I snapped this picture just as we were leaving for our snorkeling excursion. But we found out when we returned that this beautiful wedding was not to be. Apparently the groom was already married and the first wife found out about this rendezvous and showed up just in time with the police who disbanded all intentions of a marriage ceremony taking place. We felt extremely sorry for the bride though we wondered if she was an accomplice to the crime. Babysitting poolside on this day proved to be quite as interesting as diving for exotic sea snails.

And they are off!

I think I could hear Ethan squealing under the water in excitment at what he was seeing! 

Three peas in a sea.
They are more excited than they look. 

Elita Marguerite braved the snorkel as well. Emma was a great coach! Elita was excited to tell all about the things she saw underwater but she didn’t quite get the hang of the mouthpiece. She is always willing to try new things and we are so proud of her. We assured her that she will get the hang of it next time. 

I was very thankful for our friends that volunteered to watch our small Haitian + poolside so I could share my kids first snorkeling adventure with them. I think the last time I went snorkeling was on our Israel trip in 2005 when this guy turned one! My how time flies!
Our smallest Haitian +. He loves the pool and asked to go swimming every day. This was his last big hurrah before he was taken back to the orphanage. He was with another American foster family for 2 months after needing to be out of the orphanage for medical care and was with our family his last two weeks. We know the abrupt transition back to orphan life is very hard for him. Emma went to see him last week and he is certainly not the same little boy he was a few weeks ago. Please, please pray for his little heart to be guarded and healed and for his adoption to be completed soon.

This is our Emma who spent the summer and many adventures with us. We love and miss her always smiling face!

There is a reason those things are called masks. They might mask excitement and make us look silly, but they also help unmask God’s beautiful creation. 
Here is a piece of God’s beautiful creation that I brought up from a coral reef. It was a really cool sea snail! It ended up in the Hopp children’s salt water tank as a thank you for their hospitality! 

If only we had remembered to bring the disposable underwater camera we were saving for a moment like this so we could show you more than the sea snail!
Maybe next time!
Wonder who will join us next time?
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Twelve years ago today…

“Since they are no longer two but one,
let no one split apart what God has joined together.”
Matthew 19:6
This is the verse written inside our wedding bands. Today on August 12, 2012 we have been married 12 years. Many trials have come during our 12 years together that would have threatened to split us apart. Remembering to give thanks and rejoice in the Lord always in all circumstances has carried us through to this day. There are so many things to be thankful for, but next to my Savior I am most thankful for my husband Eric and that he chose to share his life with me. I don’t take that for granted but also don’t tell him enough. I’m thankful for a husband that is deeply passionate about the cause of Christ, and whose primary ministry is following Christ unreservedly and wholeheartedly wherever He leads. This is what made me fall in love with Eric and what has grown my love for him. It has also drawn me closer to the heart of God in untold ways. I am in profound awe that God would pick me be the helpmate of a man whose great attention and love toward people of every tribe, nation, and tongue and his God given ability to reach them with the love of Christ surpasses anyone I have ever personally known. My husband isn’t perfect, but when I think about Eric, I think about Jesus. He is so much like Jesus…he knows how to love and love well. He loves me well when I am hardest to love. He loves me when I don’t love him back the way I should. He truly believes that this thing we are living in called marriage wasn’t designed only to fulfill our happily ever after but to make us holy…to make us more like Christ. And the only way to become more like Christ is to fellowship in His sufferings. I am so incredibly thankful that I am not fellowshipping alone. I am thankful that we are one. We are a team that is on the same page. The foundation for every decision we make together is who Jesus is, what He has faithfully done, and what He has promised to do. When the rains come hard and knock us down we know that our Foundation will stand and we will hold on to Him. We know that our marriage is temporal. It is for however many years our Lord has granted us together on this earth. But we want the choices we make together on this earth to have eternal value. We believe this is the reason God has brought us together. This is also the reason that the evil in this present world is a threat to marriage. But a bond of three is not easily broken. How thankful I am that we share the same Christ with the same heart. How thankful I am that the children God has given us to raise together have a father that models our Heavenly Father’s example. We will continue to brave the world together in His strength until He calls us home, or until “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of His Christ; and He will reign forever and ever.” –Revelation 11:15

Twelve years ago today I married my best friend and I am so thankful for that day and every day I get to spend with him serving our Savior.