It is with great joy that our family welcomed our daughter Elita (Chosen) Marguerite to the U.S.A. on November 20th, 2012! This is one of many transitions in the past two months that God’s grace has carried us through. This is also one of many reasons we have not done better with updates! Eric and Esmée are in Haiti while Elisabeth is traveling stateside with Elita Marguerite, Ethan, and Evan. We hope that we can see many of our dear friends and family during our travels and pray that we will be reunited with our family and friends in Haiti before Christmas. We are waiting for E.M.’s confirmation of citizenship to arrive in the mail along with her U.S. passport that we were able to have expedited the day after our arrival. Please pray for these documents to come in swiftly and for safe travels in the U.S. and back to Haiti. Praise the Lord for his marvelous grace in the completion of Marguerite’s adoption!
Ankourajman
KOFAEL is an organization that Elisabeth has assisted Haitian friends in growing the past year and is in the process of trying to meet administration needs including starting/reporting on Kofael’s blog, researching financial options to further serve the organization (looking into starting a 501c3), future website, Haitian goverment paperwork, etc. What a blessing it has been getting to be here in Haiti with the women, getting to know them, learning from them, and seeking to encourage them (though they always encourage us even more). Ankourajman (“encouragement” in Creole) is what the most recent blog post is about. Please check out Elisabeth’s latest post on the Kofael blog at
http://empoweringwomeninhaiti.blogspot.com/2012/10/ankourajman.html?spref=fb
If you are interested in learning more about Kofael and helping with current specific and/or ongoing needs please e-mail Elisabeth at eeream@hotmail.com.
Thank you to Lisa Evans who helped me get the blog up and running when we were having internet difficulties doing so here in Haiti!
And a big thank you to our friends who donated to the school drive last month!
Smiles of encouragement! |
The Newest Great Place to Stay!
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! |
Cute little 1/2 bath nook downstairs |
Heading upstairs! |
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 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! |
The Other Side
“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 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 |
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. |
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 |
This is my Father’s world..in Haiti and Turkey!
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.
See that mountain? That is where Eric is now. |
This is probably what he is doing right now. |