Our Life in the Mountains of Haiti

 

Finally, after almost three years of living in Leogane, not far off the coast of Haiti, we were able and very happy to make our move to the mountains on February 19, 2014.

 

Life here is quite dramatically different from living in Leogane;

                 cool, damp air versus heat and dust

                 quiet country life versus noisy city life

                 braying donkeys versus blaring bus horns

Leogane’s population of mosquitoes was very high…. here the most bothersome bugs have been the gnats that like to invade my open, airy kitchen!

I think there are negatives as well as positives in most circumstances if not all….. Living “in the clouds” has a few negatives:

                 mold grows very quickly

                 laundry can take several days to dry

                 the grocery store is so far away

                 the road to our house is long and treacherous

Happiness does not depend on the location of your home or the abundance of possessions you might accumulate.. It depends more on your thoughts and your focus… AND knowing that you are exactly where the Lord wants you at the present time!

We have been overwhelmed over and over again how the Lord provided for our family the past several years… and He will continue to do so! Mesi Jezi!! (Thank you, Jesus!)

I WILL BLESS THEM AND THE PLACES SURROUNDING MY HILL. I WILL SEND DOWN SHOWERS IN SEASON; THERE WILL BE SHOWERS OF BLESSING. Ezekial 34:26 NIV

This verse was in my devotional a couple days after our move to the mountains and I had a feeling that that verse was speaking to us… just another promise of God’s blessings. The land that was bought for LOTM (Light on the Mountain) has been dedicated to God and His work.

It so happens to be the season of showers and rain up here in the mountains of Terre Rouge, Haiti. Since we depend on the rain for our water supply, the showers truly are a blessing. An inch and a half of rain fills the big black 600 gallon tank behind our home. That is approximately how much water we use in a weeks time. So far, we have had enough of rain to keep us supplied!

Have you ever wished that you could live “in the clouds”? At 3,600 feet above sea level, clouds  come rolling in upon us frequently! It is literally a “COOL” feeling! Along with the cool feeling is a sense of refreshment. I love to breathe deeply and take  the fresh air deep into my lungs…. so different from the dust and smog of the city where sometimes you breathe as lightly as you can or hold your breath altogether!

Our reason for moving to Haiti in the first place was because we felt a divine calling to come and minister to the needs of little children… and the Lord opened every door.

Presently, four precious little ones live with our family;

Mr. William Claudsie, age 4,

Miss Karlee Jo, age 4,

Abigail Fabmoyla, age 2, and

Sharina Estherline, age 17 months.

Abigail Fabmoyla is the most recent addition. She joined our family almost 4 weeks ago…. first on a trial basis, due to her age.. (our plans had been to take in infants who had lost their mothers but of course, we want to be open to God’s will)  Since she is doing well and really does need a loving home, we consented to keeping her long term.

Trista has been taking a genuine interest in her and has been doing a SUPER GOOD JOB at being her mom! When Abby (her nickname) first came to our house she was content to just s.i.t. and do nothing.  It is obvious that neglect has been a part of her life… from the scars all over her little body to her distended little stomach and rotting front teeth. The first several days she hated her baths and refused to sit in the water. Now she is MUCH more compliant and enjoys playing with the bubbles in her bath water! She has rewarded us with her sweet little smiles… I have come to believe that a simple smile is almost “magical”!

 

 

William Claudsie and Karlee are still like two peas in a pod… what one does the other wants to do.. like go to Ti Goave with Daddy Don or go to Rhonda’s house!.(the other orphanage just across the way. They play together all the time.. ( and fight sometimes too!) I often hear them sweetly call each other “honey”! And I have even heard William call Karlee, “Beautiful”!

In the above picture, I had trimmed some plants in my flowerbed and Karlee claimed the trimmings and wanted to make an arrangement.. quite attractive, is my opinion!

Karlee with her baby.

And the baby of the family.. is….. sweet, little Sharina! She is as cuddly and lovable as ever.. and seems very intelligent, too. She knows a lot of children’s songs and can sing some by herself… on tune!!! She can also count to 20 with a little help…

…… trying to help Sharina stop wiggling enough to pose for a picture!

There are many things you can pray about as we endeavor to serve God where He has called us:

wisdom for us as we teach and train these sweet, little ones

that each one would grow up to serve God with their whole hearts

that each one of us could be filled with the fruits of the spirit

health and strength for all of us as we adjust to a cooler and much damper climate

funds for LOTM  as we expand its ministry

for Don as field director for LOTM

that he might have the wisdom that comes only from above

for protection and safety as we live and travel in Haiti

Our house is not totally finished yet but we decided that it would be better to move up awhile so Don can be with the family while he works on the house..

My very busy and competent husband has a whole list of things to do…..

*wiring the house

We are using a small generator for our power and have extension cords running here and there since the wiring is not done yet.

*build kitchen cabinets

Last week Don started building some cabinets for my kitchen and I am eagerly waiting for them to be installed… maybe impatiently waiting would describe my anticipation better.

*build a chicken house

So far we do not have any of our own chickens but we plan to in the future sometime… we eat a lot of eggs and it would be great to be able to have our “own” eggs.

*build an outdoor kitchen and pavilion with the plans to have a neighborhood children’s ministry

This week our yard man was leveling off some of our pasture/yard in preparation for a “foot ball” field for the neighbor children…. the young boys in the area love to play soccer! This play ground will be right next to the pavilion.

Unfortunately this list of things came to …almost a stand still this week because Don caught some kind of bug… a bug that made his insides churn…and I won’t elaborate for his sake!  Maybe I’ll say this much.. that he spent some nights on the throne instead of his bed! (that is what he said!)

BiG ReD.. has a problem right now. His front CV joint flew apart on his last trip up the mountain….so.. that added another job to Don’s list of things to do! Don ordered the part he needed to fix Big Red from Maine… from Maine it got sent to PA and from PA it found itself in Grandpa Harold’s suitcase en route to Haiti!

 

This past month we were happy to share a pig with the Allegre mission. Shana Simmons, the director’s wife,  had bought a pig about a year ago intending to have it eat their garbage… and eat their garbage it did!!! …until the last couple months it ate something better in preparation to butcher! ..poor pig…

The pig was about 180 pounds of meat after it was all said and done.

 

What a tremendous blessing for us to have almost 90 pounds of delicious meat in our freezer.. most of it flavorfully seasoned sausage….

May God bless all of you for taking an interest in our lives and taking the time to read this blog…

Love to you!

Karole

* Morning Serenity *

Building “Light on the Mountain”

 

God is good.. all the time! Amen.. Amen…

For those of you who have been checking this blog periodically and finding nothing fresh and new, I am sorry! :) Sometimes the inspiration to write just. does. not. come… For me, it takes a lot of effort and even prayer!

We, as a family, have been in Haiti for over two and a half years. Wow.. sounds like a long time.. but in actuality.. it has been a very short time.  God has TRULY been good to us.

Presently, we are still living in Leogane with the hope of moving to the mountains within the next 6 months. ha.. Lord only knows when! It seems like the weeks keep going as fast they come. There is never a lack of things for Don to do… from mowing and trimming the large yard here, to hauling building materials and supplies up the rugged mountain with Big Red. He has also been spending several days a week (if his schedule allows) in the mountain working at our “house”. 

If the Lord sees fit, this building will eventually be a shop/ storage building with upstairs guest quarters, but for now, it will be our first home in the mountains of Haiti.

Every once in a while, we pack up the whole family and spend a week or so .together. in the mountain while Don works. I love those times. Aside from the stress that comes with packing…

The mountain air is fresh and cool and the mosquitoes are not nearly as plentiful. I become so weary of the mosquitoes of Leogane!.. and the heat… ( however, I enjoy some things about living here too!)

I have definitely become more of a morning person since our move to Haiti. I love mornings. Mornings are the brand new beginnings of a day. And mornings are very rewarding on top of a mountain!

I was pleasantly surprised to turn around a see part of a rainbow, early one morning!

About a month ago, we spent almost two weeks in the mountain. Don hooked up the gas stove and the washer. I was most delighted! Sure beats cooking over a fire or a Coleman camp stove… and hand washing!

Presently, our water supply is rain water channeled from the roof into a big 600 gallon drum behind our house.  Works great as long as it rains… :)

Don built a plexi glass enclosure around the 55 gallon drum which holds the water supply for our showers a top the shower house. This helps to warm the water.. other wise we have frigid cold water coming out of the shower head!

Gravity flow is used  to replenish this barrel. Genius. Is this husband of mine! ;) From the water tank further up the hill, he ran a pipe under ground and then up the side of the shower house… which sure beats using a ladder and five gallon buckets to fill the barrel. …All we have to do is open up the valve…

A while back, we did have a well drilled, with very little success.. It is hard to find water in the mountain.  I think plans are to try again. So pray ... hard..

I love my open, airy kitchen:

If you have been “following” us at all, you will know that our mission is to minister to children here in Haiti. Our main work will be caring for little ones who have lost their birth mothers.

  Here are the three little sweethearts we are caring for now. William Claudsie, Karlee, and Sharina.

We have also “adopted” three neighborhood children…(in the mountain)  It is obvious that they come from a very poor family. They spend a lot of time at our house and love to help out…

Alongside, caring for these precious souls, Don has been hauling things up and down the mountain with Big Red, which helps supplement our income.

 

Thank you for your interest.. God bless you all as you serve Him!

Sincerely,

Mommy Karole :)

God Really Can Do Anything!!

 

 

This is a Lovely, Ripe, Red tomato harvested from a volunteer tomato plant growing out of a crack in the concrete! YES, God can do anything! He can make things grow, flourish, and bear fruit even when it looks nigh to impossible.

I actually picked eight tomatoes off that plant this morning! Amazing? Yes! Some of them were small… but still… wonderful.

Psalm 100

Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all ye lands.

Serve the Lord with gladness: come before His presence with singing.

Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that made us and not we ourselves; we are His people and the sheep of His pasture.

ENTER INTO HIS GATES WITH THANKSGIVING, AND INTO HIS COURTS WITH PRAISE: BE THANKFUL UNTO HIM, AND BLESS HIS NAME.

For the Lord is good; His mercy is everlasting; and His truth endureth to all generations.

 

How time flies…

Please accept my apologies for not updating this blog on a regular basis. I know it’s been almost 2 1/2 months… and 2 1/2 months is a long time not to be in touch….However, I certainly hope that you have not forgotten to pray for our family. Thanks to those of you who took the time to let us know that you have been praying. I most certainly believe in prayer and know that your prayers make a difference!

AND…Since the last blog,  I was able to ship ten bottles of vanilla to the states ;) Thanks for letting me “twist your arm”.. ;) And thanks to Carol Myer for her willingness to stuff them into her “check in” suit case after her visit with Little Miss Karlee Jo.

First and update on Big Red:

I haven’t been keeping track how many trips, but I know he has made many trips  up the mountain since the last time I wrote. His '”health” has been good aside from a few minor aches and pains! Don replaced several broken springs just recently..

Today in preparation for the “labou season” (mud season) Don had two new tires put on the front wheels of Big Red. Talk about expensive rubber shoes!! If Big Red wouldn’t have needed “shoes” , with that money I could have bought 20 new pair of $45.  shoes for myself. Actually.. come to think of it… I could have bought flip flops to last a life time! Oh well.. I am happy that Big Red has new tires because that “famous” mountain road gets awfully muddy some places and mud can be as dangerous as a foot of slippery ice and snow (at least that’s how it looks and feels to this lady!) and I do want him to make the trips safely!

Secondly.. an update on our shop/house:

The end of January we welcomed a team from South Dakota and Iowa. They came to help us with some concrete work, frame the second floor and put on the roof. Most of the team we had never met before…once again proving to us that God will provide!

 

I have not taken a recent picture of the building.. and since this picture the walls are “parged” (I don’t know if that is the correct spelling)

Don has been working at welding the metal bars that belong to the large openings on the right of the building. This job has proved to be a very time consuming job! But I am quite sure it will be a job well done.. :) knowing my husband! :) I will be happy to show you the picture of the finished product once it is installed! So keep watching!..

Oh yes, I want to inform you that we had some VERY SPECIAL visitors in March!!

Two of Don’s brothers and their sweet wives made the trip to Haiti  to see us and help us out! God Bless Them! :)

We did manage to make a trip up the mountain during their short stay. And they were able to work on the “house” a little.

 

Thirdly.. an update on our little ones:

Sharina is still a VERY sweet little munchkin! Her bottle is dearly loved and by the looks of things the milk is doing it’s job! It is hard to believe that this sweet little one is now 5 months old. She  rolls over very easily and is beginning to scoot around as well. I am happy to tell you that this little bundle of joy brings many happy moments into all of our lives.

 

Our “twins” William Claudsie and Karlee have celebrated their third birthdays since the last time I did a blog.  They both talk very well and can easily express their wants and desires! Like typical siblings, they squabble and pick one moment and the next they play together like best of friends.

Random bits in closing:

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One of the next projects on our list is painting. Anyone out there that would like to help? :)

Another thing on the list is purchasing and installing a wind turbine with the hope of generating a large percentage of our electricity.

We hope to move to the mountain by fall but God only knows. Projects seem to take so much more time in Haiti.. especially when you have to tote everything up the mountain.

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CAM is starting an agricultural program here in Haiti with Clint Bowers heading it up. Clint is planning to raise some potatoes and onions up in the mountains on *our land this year. Yesterday we were privileged to help plant a “ton” of onions.

Pray that God would bless this work…

God bless all His children all across the face of the earth!

Our lives for His glory~ Madam Don

* When I refer to “our land” I really consider it to be the Lord’s. We believe that our investment in Haiti is an eternal investment..This beautiful piece of land is dedicated to the Lord and His work. And in the future we wish it to be passed along to those who will use it to further the Lord’s kingdom…