How Do You Build a House in Haiti?

Family and Friends,

We are quickly approaching the completion of our first calendar year in Haiti as a family. You might remember the whole adventure began last Nov. 9, and it has been quite a ride. This blog is a testament to the variety of challenges we and others in our community have faced in the first year.

One challenge or adventure we haven't written too much about is the fact that most of this past year there has always been at least once major construction project going on around us. During the first two months after we moved here last year a small house was built on the roof of the mission house, right above our heads. For most of the first half of 2011 the orphanage compound, on the other side of our wall, was slowly taking shape. Also, Richard was here for six weeks running his power tools in our yard, and we are looking forward to his return in just 2 weeks!

This year also saw some major construction at three of the schools Mission Haiti directs:

• Completion of several classrooms at the mountain school.
• The beginning of an entirely new school at Toussainte.
• The construction of a new pre-school at Lines School.

Mission Haiti has also funded the construction of some homes, or updates to homes, for extremely poor families in the mountains. Then there was the one-week project of beginning and finishing the famous “Hurricane-proof House” down on the new ALEXIS property. Recently we began the ALEXIS Dormitory, and in the coming months we plan to begin the cooking shed, meeting/eating area, shower/toilet building, classroom, and hopefully the Director House with ALEXIS office and library. You can see that construction has been a major theme here in our first year and will continue into the near future!

What does it take to build a house in Haiti? Right now a second small house is being built on the roof of the Mission House. They are really putting this one together quickly. Unfortunately, they did break through the ceiling trying to attach rebar to the house, but they are planning to fix that little mistake. The process mainly involves cinder blocks, rebar, and a ton of hand-mixed cement. The roof will be a little more complicated, building a frame with wood and covering it with sheets of tin, but these guys look like they could do the cement part of it with their eyes closed.

Below are some of the basic tasks they need to do to make it all come together:

Cutting rebar with hacksaw

Bending rebar against the tree

Laying the blocks...this man is called "Blan" by the other workers because of his slightly lighter skin.  When I am visiting they call us "blan & pi blan"  (white and whiter)

All the piles of sand have to be sifted by hand to get the bigger rocks and gravel out.  After that cement mix is added, plus water, and buckets of cement are hauled up to the roof.

Looking pretty good for morning of Day #2!

It is fun to watch these guys work.  You can begin to discern the hierarchy determining who gets to do what jobs.  When you see one of the younger guys getting a chance at trying something new, it is easy to see how much pride they take in proving themselves. The pay scale is pretty simple, too.  The regular laborers get a set amount per day.  The "bosses" or skilled guys get twice that amount, and the contractor of the whole project gets three times what the everyday laborer gets.  I suppose all of that is somewhat close (in ratio anyway) to what goes on in the US. 

This small house they are building today will have two rooms and a nice porch area, or "gallery" as they call it here.  It will house short-term missionaries (individuals or couples) who come to work here for more than the normal week.  This is probably the same crew who will build the rest of the buildings for ALEXIS, too.  We have been pretty happy with their work so far.  At least they haven't tried to rip us off or anything.  It will be fun to see how they handle a more sophisticated project like the building we will use for the Director's house and the ALEXIS office and library, if we can get the funds donated for that.

May Your Adventure Include Building Something New!

-Grimm Family Adventurers 

Cholera Continues

Family and Friends,

Just wanted to post a quick note to ask all of you to pray for people in Haiti right now for protection from the spread of Cholera.  We have been seeing additional cases in Ti-Rivier, and we hear about more and more being infected in the communities all around us.  Just today Patchouko saw three trucks in a row passing through town filled with people hooked up to IVs, traveling from St. Jean (sort of our county seat) to Les Cayes (sort of our state capital) where the good, international Cholera clinic is located.

Dr. Paul Farmer, a highly respected American health professional who has been working in Haiti for many years, recently called Haiti the most-infected-with-Cholera place on Earth at this time.  Clearly we are in a danger zone where it could kick into a higher gear and really spread rapidly and max-out the facilities available to deal with the disease.   Let's pray that this scenario doesn't play out.

Nurse Sue says we have also been seeing more cases of Malaria lately, about one per day in the clinic.  This is a side effect of rainy season and the increase in the mosquito population. 

We also expect a medical mission team here in about a week, so pray that they will be protected as they come into conatct with all kinds of diseases and infections in the mobile clinics.

All of us in the Mission Haiti compound....staff, missionaries, and kids...are all doing fine.

God Bless,
The Grimms   

Grandma Alleluia Goes Home

Family and Friends,

As all of you who read this blog are aware, our good friend and ministry partner “Kiki” passed away in August at the young age of 45 and some odd months. To put that in perspective, a well-known and well-loved member of our community passed away a few days ago at almost exactly twice his age. She was ninety-one, and her name was “Grandma Alleluia.” Actually, as you could probably guess, that was not her real name. That is only what we lovingly called her. Her real name was Electa Gesneste Erival. She was born on July 18, 1920, and passed away on Oct. 16, 2011.

Grandma Alleluia was a fixture at Ebeneezer Church, and I described her in the original installment of “our church” on this blog. She was well-known for energetically shouting “Alleluia! Alleluia!” and jumping up and down if the preacher made a good point in his sermon, or if she just felt caught up in the power of the Spirit. Sometimes she got completely carried away and couldn't stop shouting “Alleluia!!!”, until finally she had to be gently calmed down by the Pastor. Many people who have visited on mission trips here will remember her vividly.

Sadly, she had a stroke (or something like that, because they use that word for a lot of things here) last week and passed away. I don't know if it is exactly accurate, but I like to picture in my mind that she was at home praying, began shouting “Alleluia! Alleluia!”, had the stroke in the midst of her excitement, passed away instantly, and without skipping a beat found herself in the presence of God doing exactly the same thing she always did on Earth. Wouldn't that be perfect? Isn't that how all of us should go? Especially at the age of 91 and having lived a nice, full life.

Speaking of her nice, full life...I decided it would be worth my time to do a little research and find out more of her story. I didn't make it to the funeral, because it was scheduled at the exact time as we were having church. Later, however, I did some asking around in the village to discover who Grandma Alleluia really was. This afternoon I sat down with Robert, local historian who knows English very well, and got plenty of details and a little history lesson thrown in for free.

Back before Ti-Rivier was known by that name only, the area was divided into several smaller villages or neighborhoods, and the place where Electa grew up was called Capasi. It really isn't too far from where we live, maybe fifteen minutes. In those days (1930s, 40s, 50s) it wasn't uncommon for young Haitian men to go to Cuba for several years to work and make decent money. This was what Romain Erival (Electa's future husband) chose to do. Sometime in the late 1940s he decided to return to Haiti to find someone from home to share his life with. He and Electa got married. I'm not sure of the year, but it had to have been fairly late for a woman to get married in those days.

The fact that they married somewhat older seems to bear out because their children who are still living all seem to be fifty-something or maybe early sixties at the oldest. As an aside, it turns out Grandma Alleluia's son is actually Robert, the half-crazy man who keeps trying to sell the Ebeneezer church building to us. For some reason I never put that together. The problem is the age difference. He seems forty years younger than her, at least, so I always thought he was her grandson. Anyway, it will be interesting to see how her passing plays into that whole ordeal.

Back to the story...

So Romain returned to Ti-Rivier back in the 40s or early 50s and they were married. As the story goes, it was actually his mother, Electa's mother-in-law, who saw the need and began the church. They slapped together some coconut tree branches for walls and began to worship in some other location long forgotten by most people around today. The church grew through the years and at some point Romain, Grandma Alleluia's husband, became the Pastor and leader of the whole thing. It wasn't until their son Matthew (now deceased) established himself in the US and began to send home money that they were able to construct the building we see today. The two houses around that property were built there at that time or shortly after as well.

Romain died somewhere between 5 and 10 years ago, so Electa really wasn't a widow for terribly long. People seem to remember her for being quite the laugher, and someone who would mix with all people from all walks of life and think nothing of it. She might have even laughed at a few off-color jokes in her day, surprising those who thought they knew how a Preacher's wife was supposed to act. She sold meat in the market for a living and enjoyed talking with everyone on the way to the market, throughout the day, and on the way home.

Speaking of going home, that is what she did the other day. She really seemed to have a fire in her heart for worshiping God, and it definitely didn't cool down with age. If it did, I can hardly imagine what she was like several decades ago. You don't see many 90-year-old people around here, so she will be missed by all. The funeral was huge from what I hear, and no doubt many “Alleluias” were formed in the mouths of everyone there, flavored with the sweetness of laughter and the saltiness of tears.

May Your Adventure Cause You to Shout "Alleluia" Today!
-the Grimm Family Adventurers

ALEXIS

Family and Friends,

Just before publishing this blog post we published one about our missionary giving so far this year, which has been solid.  Page down to read that information in the next post on this page.

Is anything really worth attempting in life that isn't impossible in human terms, especially when you are talking about ministry and reaching lost people for Jesus? Shouldn't we undertake great endeavors for God's kingdom that will fail unless He works great miracles and displays his awesome power in the midst of our weaknesses? Don't you agree that we are called to live that way, shunning the trappings of fleshly comforts and false security and the avoidance of risk? We still believe Jesus is calling people today to step out of the boat and walk on water.

It is that approach to ministry and life, combined with the constant affirmations from Scripture, that continues to energize us for the Bible School project. I've never been one to be content living life as it has always been lived. This passionate drive to constantly innovate and try new approaches to ministry has reaped both positive and negative results in our life as a family, but it is a constant part of our story, and God has used this character trait to bring us to this exact moment in time. We feel Mission Haiti is on the brink of something truly remarkable. It is something new and exciting, and yet in many ways it is a return to the way things started, when Jesus first told his followers to “go.”

However, we cannot take any credit for reaching this critical point in the journey. We (the Grimms) are only standing on the shoulders of those who have gone before. My missions professor, Dr. Jay Moon, told us an unforgettable story in class one day. He talked about how his family went to rural Ghana for many years and saw a great deal of fruit from the work of the ministry. Churches were planted, wells were dug, and people were very open to the good news of Jesus. He was thankful to God for these blessings, but only later did he find out that they were the fourth or fifth missionary family to be sent to that area. The previous ones had labored long and hard without seeing much result, and Jay's family benefited from all of that sowing of seeds. Jesus said something similar to his disciples one day. He said, “I have sent you to reap what you have not worked for. Others have done the hard work, and you have reaped the benefits of their labor.” (John 4:38)

One of those who has gone before and paved the way for us was Kiki. That is why we are so pleased to announce that that Bible School will be named after him and his father, a former pastor of great influence. The full name of the school will be the ALEXIS Ministry Training Center. Here is a excerpt from the student recruitment brochure we are working on:

“ALEXIS”- The Ministry Training Center is named after two people:

Reverend Alexis- A Pastor in Haiti who labored in the fields to support his family, sacrificed so much for his churches, and raised up many young leaders.

Jean Kuisline Alexis- Rev. Alexis' son who served Mission Haiti from the beginning and passed away in the summer of 2011. Known to all as “Kiki”, he became a successful businessman, processing adoptions to USA, Canada, France, and Belgium. He engaged in ministry through his work but also regularly traveled to the remote villages and countryside of Haiti to powerfully share Christ with all people.

If you read the three part series, “Kiki Goes Home”, you will remember that Kiki once attempted something humanly impossible, and he was successful with God's help. He left rural Haiti as a young man and tried to “make it” in the big city of Port-au-Prince. God had a plan for him and directed his path in so many ways, opening doors and allowing him to positively impact so many lives. It is our hope that the ALEXIS Ministry Training Center will help many people follow a similar path and calling, attempting great things for God.

We have been very busy working out all of the details, with the help of Mike and Pam and the Mission Haiti board, of what the ALEXIS MTC program and campus will look like exactly. We are making great strides in that area lately, finishing the documents any institution for higher education needs to have available: brochures, application, student handbook, etc... We are also finishing the budget and putting together plans and strategies for fund raising and recruiting of students and professors.

A ballpark figure for the next 6-8 months will be something like $100,000 we will need to raise for this project. One significant cost will be scholarships for the students, especially those coming to the program from Haiti (see “10 Adventures in 10 Days: #2- Bible School” for our vision about having students come from around the world to join the Haitian students for study, ministry, and fellowship). Though we already have the land paid for, a house for the Resident Director finished, and the money in hand for the dormitory (if we stay under budget), we will continue to raise funds for several smaller building projects like a cooking and storage shed, shower/toilet building, classroom, meeting/eating building, and other items.

There is also another large building project in the planning stages. About half of the 100K we hope to raise will be budgeted for a new house containing the living space for the Ministry Director and his family (the Grimms), the ALEXIS office and library, and room for visiting professors and other guests to the school. We will attempt to make this home wheelchair accessible, which is something fairly unheard of in these parts. It will be exciting for our family to be able to be in the middle of all of the excitement of campus when this project is completed!

So I (Cory) have taken up grant writing as my new hobby. Time will tell whether or not this will bear fruit for the ministry. File that under “humanly impossible” and we'll see what God does! I will also make at least one recruiting/fund raising trip to the US in the coming months. Soon we will publish a detailed brochure explaining all the ways people can help make ALEXIS MTC great through financial partnerships. The whole project is slowly morphing from a dream and a vision into something we can see before our very eyes. The moment when those student show up next September on the freshly finished campus with all of their zeal and energy for the Lord will be almost too much to take. Only God can make this happen, and we believe with all of our hearts He will...for the glory of God, for the honor of Kiki and his dad, and for the thousands who will one day benefit from the ministries yet to be birthed by the future students of ALEXIS.

May God Ask You to Do Something Impossible Today!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers

Brief Financial Update

Family and Friends,

Our missionary financial support has been strong in the third quarter of this year, putting us back on track to make budget, which was a real blessing and an answer to prayer! Two important contributions that helped us a lot were the fundraiser in Herrick, SD, and the decision of Inwood CRC to support us as missionaries. Though we will continue to seek new sources of support from individuals and churches for personal and ministry expenses in the coming year, we feel that our current level of support is a very solid start. In just two months we will complete our second year with Mission Haiti, and your prayers and financial support have helped us so much to make this possible.

In the next post we will talk about some of the planning and fund raising we will be doing for the Bible School in the coming year as well. Below are the numbers for financial giving for this year so far:

               1^st quarter 2011-                      $15,794

               2^nd quarter 2011-                       $5,090
               3^rd quarter 2011-                      $14,902

                               TOTAL                   $35,786

                (after 3^rd quarter 2010)          ($34,500)

God Bless,

The Grimms

Recent Pictures

Family and Friends,

We're getting a strong internet signal today and thought it would be good to attempt to load a few recent pictures of what we have been up to...

Dad and the kids went for a hike...stopping for a break and overlooking the bay with the mountains behind and the clouds above...breathtaking

Posing for a photo on the trail

A distant view of the Bible School property...the beach in the middle of the photo is right in front of the 2 acres on which we are building

Lucy's 10th birthday party!

Each kid gave Lucy a gift and received a piece of candy and a hug in return

10 Adventures in 10 Days: #10- SANTIA

Family and Friends,

For the final installment of our 10 Adventures in 10 Days series, I wanted to write a little bit about what Lynn has been up to this fall. She has been mentoring and tutoring Santia, a troubled young woman (age 18) who lives in Ti-Rivier (not to be confused with the 7-year old orphan also named Santia who formerly lived in the Mission Haiti compound). She is an orphan who has bounced around from home to home for many years and hasn't been able to succeed in school. She has a bad reputation in the community and has been abused in many ways. Pam asked Lynn to work with her and see if she is capable of learning. If so the plan is for Pam to relocate her to another community where she can start over and take one more chance at finishing school. Lynn works with her each weekday afternoon. The following is Cory interviewing Lynn about this work she has done with Santia (Lynn says this reminds her of when Cory interviewed her for the High School newspaper almost 20 years ago)...

C: What was your first reaction when Pam asked you to work with Santia?

L: I was excited and happy about the opportunity, because I enjoy the 1-on-1 setting for helping people.

C: What was your first impression of Santia?

L: She is small for an 18-year-old, and appeared relationally immature for her age, but there was something about her that was endearing.

C: What did Pam ask you to do during these sessions?

L:  Basically she wanted me to find out if Santia could learn. She has only gotten up to 2^nd grade. We needed to work on math and reading and see if she had some kind of developmental problem or if she really could grasp these concepts with some extra help. It was also an opportunity to pray with her and help her in her spiritual journey.

C: What is your current assessment of Santia's abilities?

L: I'm pretty sure she has dyslexia. I did some research online and the descriptions of that condition seem to fit her very well. I wish I was better trained in how to teach someone with that disability. She is learning how to read, but the math isn't going well.

C: What are the sessions like? What do you do each afternoon?

L: We have some of the books from the schools here, written for the earliest levels of study. We work through those together. I am teaching her how to read Psalm 23 in Creole, but she is also learning to read in French. At the end of our meeting we read the Bible together and pray.

C: Do you give her homework?

L: At first I did, but I found out she was just getting other people to do her work for her. After I told her not to do that anymore, she continued to do it, but before she came she erased the answers her helpers had written, leaving just enough on the page to be able to still see what they wrote and trace over the answer herself during our lesson. Her little scheme was pretty obvious. Now we do all the work here. She can practice reading at home, but we do the math here to make sure she is doing it herself. I encourage her to work on the things she learns at home for extra practice.

C: How is she responding to the sessions? Has she matured at all?

L: It is hard to say, because she seems to be a different person here than she is out on the streets. Her reputation outside our property is that she picks fights, argues, and gets in trouble a lot with her mouth. I haven't heard from anyone that her life has changed much outside of our sessions. She doesn't like anyone else watching when we work together. If they try to listen in, she tells people to go away.

C: What have you learned about her personal life?

L: Supposedly her mother was crazy and dropped her off when she was a baby to some other family. They adopted her and treated her well. However, at some point she took her things and just left them. Since that time she has bounced around from house to house. She says they kick her out, but we don't know if that is exactly true. She has requested to live in the Mission Haiti orphanage, and has told people on the streets that this is her plan, but that is not an option for her and we let her know that. She does seem grateful for our time together.

C: Do you know where she is staying now?

L: Judlyn's house, from what I hear. (a girl in the youth group with a pretty good family)

C: Do you think that could be a good situation for her?

L: From what I know of Judlyn and that family, it could be helpful for her.

C: What do you know about her relationship with God?

L: She says she believes in God and goes to church, but everybody in the community seems to think her behavior indicates otherwise. She sometimes acts crazy to get attention.

C: What have you learned through this opportunity?

L: Santia is helping me learn Creole. It is a challenge to try to teach someone basic skills in another language. I look forward to seeing her every day, and she is special to me already. I hope this will bear fruit in her life and somehow draw her closer to God, helping her blossom. It is hard to know what her future holds. If she does see significant change it might work to put her in a different community to get a fresh start. It might be too hard to overcome her reputation here.

C: How has this impacted your personal walk with God?

L: I'm thankful to God for bringing her into my life. Everything down here improves my prayer life. I constantly pray for Santia. I pray for God to help me overcome my own weaknesses, which become evident when I try to teach others. I ask God to equip me for this work.

Lynn and Santia

Enjoy the Adventure of Helping Someone Less Fortunate!

-The Grimm Family Adventurers

10 Adventures in 10 Days: #9- RAINY SEASON

Family and Friends,

Rainy season hit last Thursday or Friday, and the timing was perfect! It was truly a God thing. As you are probably aware if you read this blog regularly, we have begun the building of new facilities for the Bible and Ministry Training School we are opening next fall. We hired Boss Wilner, an up-and-coming contractor in the area who seems to be honest and fairly skilled, to do the first building, a small dormitory. Around September 20th or so Pam, Boss Wilner, and myself sketched out a plan for this building, and he came back with an estimate. We knew the estimate was way too high, based on way too many materials, and at first I overreacted and thought we should look for someone else. But Pam had more experience with this process and thought we could work with it. We struck up an agreement to buy the materials ourselves and save money. He agreed. Pam gave him some money to get started.

His crew wasted no time and got right to work. In just a few days they had the land cleared and leveled for the foundation. The building is built parallel to the slope of the hill, or perpendicular to the ocean, so on one side it is cut into the hill, and on the other side it was to be built up with a rock/cement platform. Pretty cool, really. The workers cut into the hill, dug bigger pits for the pillars, and mapped everything out for the foundation to be laid. After that they began piling in the rocks, cement, and rebar in a furious frenzy of activity. Everyday I would stop by and watch, at a different time each day, and I was very impressed to rarely find them sitting around or calling it quits too early in the day, especially since they get paid per day of work. As we have probably mentioned before, all cement here is made by hand. No cement truck or mixer of any kind can be found here. The workers just open several 94 lb. sacks of mix, combine the necessary amounts of sand and water, and shovel the mixture into buckets to be carried by hand to the next spot that needs it.

So around October 5^th they were completely finished with the foundation, with the necessary rebar pointing up to the sky and indicating where the walls would soon be built. The building will be only one level now, but should be set up nicely to add a 2^nd level in the future. The completion of the foundation was a very nice stopping point, and sure enough, that very night the rainy season kicked in with full force. It was perfect timing, because Pam had only given them enough money to complete the foundation, and we didn't have the money in Haiti to buy the necessary supplies to continue after that point. We never imagined they would finish all of this before the rainy season kicked in. It was more like we figured they would work at it a day or so each week in October, working during the few rare dry patches, and maybe be close to finishing when Pam returned on November 2^nd. But this is perfect. They can just take a break during the next few weeks of rain, and we'll pick it up after that. Praise God for perfect timing!

Rainy season is something to behold here. I don't think we were hit too hard this spring. It was nothing like it has been the last four or five days. It just rains and rains and rains. Bruce and I did some work on the roof in September, which has helped a lot to keep the house dry on the inside. There are still a few drips here and there, but it is much better. Everything shuts down in the community when it is raining, so you need to have a comfortable home to enjoy as you sit around playing cards, reading books, etc... My heart goes out to those who are sitting in wet homes all over the community even as I am sitting here typing this blog...especially those with dirt floors. How miserable.

The air is much cooler when it is raining. It is very refreshing. Heaven forbid the Sun comes out right after a downpour, though. Humid! Another interesting thing following rains is to go out with the motorcycle and drive down our dirt/gravel roads in Ti-Rivier. It feels like you are driving on them for the first time. When you drive here you subconsciously catalog all of the big potholes and ruts and other obstacles you need to avoid. Right after it rains the road is completely different. You are forced to relearn the best route to take on the road, because there is a whole new topography to account for.

It probably won't be too long before a little bit of cabin-fever sets in, but we'll do our best to get by. Pam remembers times when it didn't stop raining for over 20 days here, so we'll see if that scenario repeats itself this October. We'll take advantage of this time to rest, enjoy family time, and get a lot of planning and writing done for the Blog, the Bible School, the Youth Group, and other ministries. Again, God's timing is perfect...so let it rain!

The first half of this blog was written on Monday morning. The following was added on Tuesday afternoon...

What a difference 24 hours makes when you are talking about the effects of rain! Over the past day we have been completely saturated with a constant downpour, and everything has changed. I kept telling Sue, “I wish we had a rain gauge, because it has got to be somewhere in the 10-15 inch range, easily. The first half of this blog almost makes it seem like rainy season is a cute little hiccup in your day, a little tiny inconvenience to deal with and move on. However, last night and into today we have witnessed the raw power of what water can do.

Last night the staff in the orphanage compound came over at about 9 o'clock to get tools out of the tool shed. They told us some water was coming in to one of the houses. I volunteered to go over and help out. I wasn't prepared for what I would see. The whole property was covered with water, and part of the wall highest up the hill had cracked and water was gushing through. At the bottom of the compound, especially by the gate, a small lake was forming. Lubin and Renand's house was taking on water. It was coming in between the wall and the floor, reminding me of basements after big rains back in the region we come from. The toilets were filled with water as well, and the retaining wall was cracked in several places and bulging.

We poked a little hole in the retaining wall by the flooded house, and that relieved the pressure and cleared up that problem. We opened the gate and let all of that lake go down the path out front. Hopefully it didn't end up in the house of someone farther down the hill. Next we all took flashlights and went outside the compound to take a look at the other side of the wall. The compound is at the bottom of a fairly large hill, and the wall actually gets lower toward the middle. I was afraid of what we might see. I imagined the wall holding back a lake of water, like a damn just waiting to burst and cause who-knows-what to happen

There was a lot of laughing as we made our way behind the wall. None of us knew quite how jungle-like it had gotten back there! We took a good look, didn't find any standing water, and then suddenly we all began dancing around and yelling out, “Foumi! Foumi!” (Ants! Ants!) I don't know how they do it, exactly, but they all start biting you at one time. It is like some leader ant gives a signal...”Wait, boys! Don't bite until we all get on their legs and pick a tender spot. Okay, on the count of three. One....two...three...BITE!!!!!” We ran back into the compound, concluding the water situations was relatively safe for now.

This morning we began considering plans for how to deal with the problem before we get another big rain. Meanwhile, Adrien, Sue, and myself decided to try to squeeze in a “bulk run”, which is a trip to the city to get all of the big bags of cornmeal, beans, oil, sugar, seasonings, and other food items needed to keep the meals flowing for everyone who lives here. Adrien had already made the trip to Cayes in the middle of the night to take Dan Elliot, another local American missionary, to the bus station. This morning he went to Port-au-Prince to meet his wife and kids and bring them back to Ti-Rivier. Patchouko went along with Dan to help out.

The bulk run went alright. We found most of the items despite the fact that most o the shops weren't open. Les Cayes is a very low city, near the ocean, and the streets were flooded pretty badly. Driving there was relatively uneventful, and the deepest water we drove through was probably 18 inches or so, and it wasn't moving too fast. We finished up and left town around noon. About that time we got a phone call from Dan saying they, too, were in Cayes and had stopped beside the road because of flooding. The van driver they had hired from Port didn't want to try to continue.

Soon we caught up with the Elliots, and many cars, motorcycles, and pedestrians were stopped at that point. It was unclear whether we could pass any further. We took Dan's wife, Kari, and their two kids in the vehicle with us, and their visitor from Sioux Falls named Todd, and we decided to go for it. Little did we know how big the adventure was about to get!

That first little stretch was probably the scariest. Water was almost up to the headlights of the SUV, and it was flowing across pretty fast in places. I asked Adrien, “Are you concerned about the car stalling out?” He just stared ahead and said, “No.” Later he told me he knew how high the carburetor was, and we were good to go as long as it didn't go that high. People in the car were pretty anxious about the whole thing. Water was pushing hard on the side of the car and coming in through the doors, and spontaneous, audible prayers broke out from more than a couple mouths.

We made it through that test and several more, finally arriving back in Ti-Rivier almost 2 hours later. At one point the few cars making this journey stopped. I walked ahead in about a foot of water to see what was going on. Huge chunks of earth had washed across the road, and the traffic was waiting for some men to try to break down the barrier. Others were carrying motorcycles across by hand.

Finally it opened up and we were able to continue on our journey. At that time, as I trudged back to the car and glance up at the mountains about five miles away, it dawned on me what had happened. I was wondering how the water could get so much higher in the few hours since we had passed there in the morning. I suddenly remembered that we were in a huge plain, filled with rice paddies and sugarcane fields, gradually sloping down to the sea, and it was only at this time that the huge rains from the night before were finally arriving from the mountains. The sheer volume of water was no longer able to soak into the earth. In a way were driving through a gigantic river that stretched about 6-8 miles wide.

We survived the ordeal, and about an hour later Dan and Patchouko showed up in town as well. I still haven't heard how they got a ride through the mess. The real tragedy in this adventure was the countless homes in the flood plain completely inundated with water. We could see the water gushing straight into the front doors of many homes. Adrien had already heard of some people drowning the night before. I wondered to myself, “Does this always happen during rainy season.” Right on cue, as if he was reading my thoughts, Adrien answered my question, “I've never seen it quite this bad.”

Thank you God for bringing us safely through this adventure!  Please protect us for the remainder of this rainy season.


ENJOY YOUR ADVENTURE TODAY!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers

10 Adventures in 10 Days: #8- OUR NEW CHURCH

Family and Friends,

Our church has undergone a lot of changes recently, and we thought you might find it interesting to read a little bit about these new developments. To get some background on where we have come from, check out the post from February 27, 2011 called “Adventures at Our Church.”

Let's pick up where the earlier story about church left off. The church finally did split. The people had enough of the owner taking the offerings and not keeping the building up, and they finally left. For awhile they met in the high school down the street, but there is no room there big enough for more than about twenty people. We went to church with one of the mission teams, and half the people had nowhere to sit. It was clear the situation wasn't a long-term solution.

Meanwhile the owner of Ebenezer (the little pink church) approached Pam to try to sell his church building to Mission Haiti. We had some interest in the building, because it is smack in the middle of Ti-Rivier, and last spring we weren't sure where the Bible School would be located or hold classes when it opened. There was some thought of renovating that building and the two houses on the property and starting there. However, they came back with an offer of $200,000 US for the property and we just laughed. Pam counter-offered $30,000 and they just laughed. It was clear no sale was going to occur.

In a sense I feel bad for this guy. He is totally convinced that somehow he is going to get rich off of this building passed down to him from his grandfather and father, even though that was probably never the intent of building it in the first place. Pretty sad. Now he lost his chance to sell it at a decent price, and there are and probably never will be any other interested or qualified buyers for this property. We probably wouldn't even take it for free at this point now that we have moved on with plans for the Bible School. In a last ditch effort he did finally fix the roof and try to restart worship services there, but from what we hear no one really attends anymore.

Anyway, the church needed somewhere to meet, and we have a nice little cement pad and canvas meeting tent in the Mission Haiti compound, with several benches and chairs, so it made sense to relocate there. Then Bruce (a guy on the Mission Haiti board) had a vision and some ideas about doing church here, and Torrey Babb (the family who was here all summer) helped to get the whole thing off the ground, too. The idea was that we would never give handouts from this church, never steal members from other local churches, and do everything we can to invite non-Christians and new Christians to an environment that was non-threatening and non-judgmental.

So far it seems to be working pretty well. Pastor Delva is still involved. I am very impressed with him. He was genuinely concerned when people from the old Ebeneezer congregation were staying home on Sundays for awhile and not getting fed spiritually. Though he basically worked for free for the last three years, traveling here each week from Les Cayes and paying his own gas, he has stuck with this whole thing and held on to a calling he felt from God to serve and minister here. He and others share the preaching duties each month. We also have a youth Sunday once a month and incorporate the talents of the youth group and the children. The children's program each Sunday morning, led by Patchouko, usually has 20-30 kids, so that is fun to see. He is a gifted leader.

In the future the Mission Haiti Church (for lack of a better name) will be a great place for Bible School students to practice preaching and other church leadership functions. It is also a good place for us to invite people who give their lives to Christ during outreaches we do. They can come here in any clothes they have, which takes a lot of pressure off. Many still come in nice dresses and suits, so that is welcome, too. Yesterday we were happy to see Esperancia and her sisters, as well as Zoot and his family, two groups of people who were deeply touched by American mission teams and those who donated so generously to the Mission Haiti medical fund.

Our church is not perfect and never will be. We still get started late like any Haitian church, and then we go over the normal finishing time. Those things are hard to change, but they really don't matter so much either. We also aren't sure exactly how we will handle requests for weddings and funerals. We may have to defer to the more established churches when those moments occur. Without a full-time pastor we probably don't do as much pastoral care (visiting elders, sick, grieving, and spiritually struggling people in the church) as we should, but again, that could change when we have the extra help of the Bible School students at our disposal. We just hope our model of church will inspire other churches to be less judgmental (mainly based on clothes) and accepting of seekers and new Christians.

We do the best we can to “do church” in a way that is glorifying and pleasing to God in the setting in which we currently find ourselves. Isn't this what we are all called to do? Wherever you find yourself, in whatever situation, it is good to stop once a week, rest, worship, hear the preaching of the Word, and allow God to refresh and restart your soul for another week. As my uncle Michael often says, “If you ever find the perfect church, please don't start attending there because you will ruin it.” You just go to the church where God leads you and humbly play your part in making the church better day by day. The same is true in Haiti.

Enjoy the Adventure of Serving in Your Local Church!
-The Grimm Family Adventurers

10 Adventures in 10 Days: #7- KU KLUX COOKIE

Family and Friends,

Our dog is a racist bigot. She hates black people. I wish we had known to ask about that when we were researching breeds and trying to find out their predispositions. We did ask if she would shed. Not very much, we were told. (that was wrong) We did ask if she would bark. Not very much, we were told. (wrong again) However, we forgot to ask if she would be prone to extreme racial prejudice. I guess that never came up in the research and planning. That category never showed up on www.dogbreeds.com. I'm sure the breeders we bought her from would have assured us she was color-blind and it wouldn't matter anyway.

Cookie is a pocket puggle, sort of. On the internet they will tell you there is really no such thing, which is probably true. A puggle is a combination of a pug and a beagle. A pocket puggle is a combination of a pug and any number of smaller breeds, which gives you a small puppy that looks part pug. In Cookie's case she was a combination of a pug and a rat terrier, and the terrier genes really come out whenever Haitian people show up at our door. Out come the snarls, fangs, barks, and growls. She is a one-dog unwelcoming committee.

Richard, our friend from Milford, IA, who came down for an extended period earlier this year and is returning in a few weeks, really got a kick out of Cookie and her strange tendencies. He raises funds at churches for the lumber and other supplies he uses on his mission trips, and he likes to tell stories about Cookie, the racist dog. So he is really the one who inspired us to come up with the name, Ku Klux Cookie. We thought about Cookie the Caucasian-loving, cantankerous canine, but that didn't exactly roll off the tongue. She loves Sue. She normally isn't bothered by Pam. If she is bothered by her, it is only because Pam is always darting about with quick motions and comes in and out of the house in a hurry. Cookie normally doesn't like men, but Pam's dad became her best friend last summer, and of course he is white.

The real proof of Cookie's racial prejudice is her strained relationship with Adrien. He supposedly has some white in his bloodlines, going back to the French, and in fact his skin is pretty light for a Haitian. He seems to be the one Cookie hates the most. She can recognize his voice from a city block away. She starts barking even if he tries to sneak silently past our house. Isn't that the true mark of a racial supremacist? She hates people who are “mixed” even more than people whose heritage comes completely from one ethnicity. The great irony is that she is a mixed-breed herself! What a sick puppy.

So we are thinking about sending her to a Haitian tolerance boot camp. I'm not sure what they do there, exactly. Probably make her sit quietly through a lot of singing, hand-clapping, and dancing. Next they will test her with flash cards, each portraying a person with a different shade of skin. If she doesn't bark at black people, she gets a treat. Finally she will be handed over to Nesli, the rascally 5-year-old at the orphanage who throws toys and soccer balls in the outhouse pit for fun, who will be her personal drill sergeant and force her to endure unmentionable tortures. If she survives all of that her little heart will either be turned to stone or completely softened for the Haitian people.

I guess in a “Signs” (remember that movie?) sort of way we reassure ourselves that her coming unglued every time someone (black) comes to the door will eventually reap dividends if some stranger intent on harm ever comes. In other words, her guard dog qualities might be needed some day. Until then, however, we'll just have to patiently work with her and try not to come unglued ourselves. We keep a squirt bottle handy to douse her snout when she barks. We also try to hold her down as kids from the orphanage pet her. She makes little whines and throaty moans when we do that, like we are performing surgery on her or something.

"Cookie the Racist Watchdog"
(Sung to the tune of “Rudolph, the Red-nosed Reindeer”)

There was....

Francia, Kiki,
Rose, Lepe, Lucy
Schinaider and Nesli
Anderson, Kenny

But the most disturbing young creature of all,
was curled up in a furry brown ball...

Cookie the racist watchdog
Had a very vicious bark
And if you ever heard her

You hoped your skin was not too dark

All of the other orphans
used to laugh and call her names
They never let poor Cookie
join in any mixed-race games

Then one balmy Christmas eve
Cory came to say,
“Cookie, if you bark so loud,
I might throw you in the pound!”

Then all the orphans loved her,
and they shouted out with glee,
“Cookie the friendly watchdog,
Jesus' love has set you free!!!!”

-The Grimm Family Adventurers (and Cookie)

10 Adventures in 10 Days: #6- SACRIFICE

Family and Friends,

We write a lot of stories about our adventures all over the village and the mountains trails of Haiti.  This post, however, shows how true it is that the real adventure of following Christ is in one's own heart and soul and mind.

Lynn was paging through Facebook a night or two ago (We have internet! Am I dreaming? Somebody pinch me!), and we were sad to see that a good friend from Orange City had passed away. It wasn't a big shock, because she had been battling serious illness in varying degrees for close to thirty years, dating all the way back to a kidney transplant and related complications for life, and ending with many years of battling cancer. I had spoken to her husband in August, and he let me know things weren't going well for his wife and she might not live long. So again, we weren't totally devastated by the news, but it got me thinking.

There truly is a sacrifice that takes place when you leave for the mission field, and it is more complex than you might think. I get the feeling that we are only beginning to understand what it means. Previously we blogged about giving up unknown expectations and dreams we hold way down deep in our hearts and in the inner recesses of our minds...hopes for our future we might not have even been aware of, like being able to watch your kids sing or play Joseph or Mary in the Christmas program at church. There is a sacrifice there, no doubt, but that is not what I'm thinking about this time.

Of course there is the sacrifice of comforts, conveniences, technologies, etc.... That is something we often joke about, and the mission teams who come down here without fail comment both on how hard it is to give up certain things and how at the same time it can be quite refreshing. Letting go of some of those simple pleasures feels a little bit like a sacrifice sometimes, but you get over it pretty quickly. A more sobering sacrifice is giving up reliable health care and putting yourself in a position where injuries and illnesses we would consider moderately serious in the US suddenly become life-threatening in Haiti. But that is not what this blog post is about, either.

I'll tell you what the real sacrifice is when you leave to be a missionary in a different country. It is sacrificing the normal, logical, and healthy continuation and completion of relationships you've been investing in your whole life. There is a real sense of disorientation and loss at the feeling of not being there for our friends' funeral. We should be there. I guarantee you that when we return on some break in the future, especially when we visit Trinity Reformed in Orange City, we will have to remind ourselves that this friend is really gone. We will grieve her all over again.

It isn't like our friend and her husband would have thought badly about us not being there for the funeral. They would be totally understanding and sympathetic of our situation. In fact, we wouldn't be here without their help. When I was youth pastor in Orange City, it was through the mentorship of this man (and the encouragement of Pastor Opgenorth) that I even considered the option of attending seminary. Then this couple, of whom the wife just passed away, supported us financially in seminary and through Mission Haiti. So in strange ironic twist they shared in the sacrifice. By supporting us in this work, they had to sacrifice our ability to be there to support and encourage them in their time of need. They gave up any ministry and love we might have given them at this time as a gift to the people of Haiti.

That is really what the sacrifice is all about.

Years ago I remember my parents talking about how my uncle and aunt (who were missionaries in Kenya) were very concerned about getting “the phone call,” and they weren't sure how much longer they wanted to be missionaries because of this tension. In other words, they didn't want to be in the middle of nowhere when they heard that “mom” or “dad” had passed away. I'm not sure if that sums up the situation fairly, but that is the overview of what I was told. I am ashamed now to confess that when I heard that I perceived it as sort of a weakness on their part, that they wouldn't be willing to make that sacrifice. I now understand a little bit better how that feels, and I am sorry for my ignorance, arrogance, and lack of compassion. It isn't only about how much you love that person. There is something more to the sacrifice. When you are transplanted from one culture to another there is a loss of being connected to the natural flow of life and death that goes on without you in the culture you left.

We have had some talks about this and kind of plotted out what our plan would be if certain people passed away while we are in Haiti. That is kind of morbid to talk about, but in all seriousness, we feel need to have a plan when we get “the phone call” and even make a decision beforehand of who is a close enough relative (and who isn't) for all of us to drop everything and fly back. If we stay here long enough we might also have to miss some really important moments other than funerals. We already have. Just a few days ago Lynn's brother and his wife had their second child. The first time we see him may be when he is tottering along some piece of furniture at Grandma's house. The reality is we will miss holding him as a baby. That is a sacrifice that counts for something. At least we hope so.

When it is all said and done, no sacrifice we make compares to the sacrifice Jesus made for us on the cross. Maybe we shouldn't even use that word, “sacrifice.” Maybe this whole blog post should not be written. However, I think God is very understanding when it comes to these things, and He can more than compensate for any feelings of loss or confusion. The other side to this, of course, is the sacrifice all of you are making in letting us go, especially our parents. Sometimes we overlook or even downplay this reality. We think, “We were pretty boring people anyway, so we won't be missed too much.” But again, it isn't only about how much you back home love us. It is about that sense of missing out on what you feel you should be a part of...losses, rites of passage, great accomplishments, tiny little snapshots of everyday life, etc...

By God's grace may we all embrace this sacrifice in faith that “our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us.” (Rom. 8:18) Also, today we remember a truly great woman, Marietta Vandersall. I can think of no better example of a person who suffered greatly from physical ailments and yet put others before herself and made them feel important and special. She had a special place in her heart for Lynn. Also pray for Stan, her husband and my former mentor, a great servant of God and His church, who will somehow go on by God's grace into an unknown future. Do us a little favor and give Him a little extra encouragement on our behalf.

-The Grimm Family Adventurers

10 Adventures in 10 Days: #5- OLGENS

Family and Friends,

PART 1:

This post could also fit into the old “neighborhood characters” category, but Olgens has gone way beyond being just another face in the crowd. I first met Olgens on one of my earliest trips here, and he made an impression on me one night after youth group. We had a pretty serious study/talk that night about sin, and afterward I offered to pray with anyone who needed prayer. Olgens came up and asked to talk. At that point all I knew was “bonjou (good morning), wi (yes), and mesi (thank you)”, and Olgens didn't know any English at all. We needed a translator, and faithful Kiki stepped in to help out. That moment will always be a definitive and treasured memory of Kiki for me.

Olgens got right to the point. He confessed to me that his heart was filled with sin. I asked him if he wanted to share anything specific he was struggling with. After a little bit of hemming and hawing, he said, “Okay, I'll tell you. Sometimes when I look at girls I want to have sex with them.” I had to force myself to suppress a little laugh. This is one of those moments when you just have to cherish the relative naiveté and near-innocence of most young people in Haiti. At this point Olgens was about 19 or so, and I assured him that those temptations were very normal for a boy of his age, and in fact it is an issue that almost all men have to deal with throughout their lives. I tried to give him some practical ways to deal with this situation, and he seemed relieved to have confessed to someone.

After that I always remembered his name and called to him on the street whenever I was in town with a mission team. He was always so happy that I remembered him. It was easy to see that his life was hard. He always wore the same old jeans, his head was too big for his body (which generated plenty of ridicule from his peers), he was only in 5^th grade, he tended to mumble when he talked, and let's just come out and say it...he was kind of a homely lad.  Speaking with Lynn one day, I jokingly compared him to Quasimoto.  That's terrible, I know, but it was done in love, believe me.  But the real turning point for Olgens was when Lynn came to visit with me last May. That was the beginning of something new for him.

When girls come on mission trips to Ti-Rivier, all the young men get really excited. No big news there, of course. Sometimes teams will come with a group of cute high school or college girls, and without fail our youth group always doubles or triples in size while they are here. Olgens has always wished that he could hang with the big boys in those moments, the Elyse and Junior-types who are confident, funny, smart, good-looking, and know quite a bit of English. Those are great guys, and Olgens sees them striking up conversations with the cute American girls and gets jealous. But then Lynn came and he found someone who he could talk to and be heard. Of course she was already taken, thank you very much! But that really didn't matter to Olgens, because it was never about the romantic side of things as much as just feeling some kind of self-respect and confidence.

Since that time Olgens has become a great friend to our family and even works for Mission Haiti carrying water every day. He loves to push Lynn's wheelchair when we go out in the community, which is really nice for me. He is still only in 7^th grade at age 21, and may never finish school, but he has a future with us, anyway, as an incredibly loyal and hard worker who can be trusted. One day Mike gave me $20 Haitian ($2.50 US) to find someone to wash the truck. I asked Olgens to do it, and afterward I offered him the money. He said he didn't want it because he didn't do it for money. This is a pretty rare thing in Haiti, let me tell you!

PART 2:

Recently Olgens has gotten pretty good at English, so one day I was planning to go to Les Cayes to run some errands. Normally I would take Chelo or Patchouko with me, but both were busy on this occasion. Olgens was sitting there talking to Lynn, so I invited him to go. He was excited for the opportunity. On the way I asked him if there was anything he needed to buy or do while we were there. He asked if we could stop and visit his mom.

After finishing the errands we headed over to her neighborhood. This was a new place for me to go, and I was so happy for the opportunity to see a whole different type of life I had nver witnessed before. We turned off the cement street and headed down a dirt/gravel road. At this point the houses were quite small, but made of finished cement, with doors and everything. There was a few feet between the houses. Soon we went as far as we could go on motorcycle and had to park. At this point quite a crowd gathered around us. They were obviously impressed that Olgens was was in cahoots with some Blanc (American).

We proceeded on foot. Now the only space between homes was about the width of a hallway in most American homes. The homes shared walls with each other, and most of the “doors” were simply a blanket draped across an opening. The cement of these homes was sometimes unfinished, just bare cinder blocks held together with a bit of mortar. Naked babies and toddlers were everywhere. One 18-month old (or so) pointed at me at said, “Blanc! Blanc!” It makes me wonder how they learn that so early. It must have been her third word after “Mama” and “Papa.”

We reached the home of Olgens' mother, but unfortunately she was not there. Later she would call him and rebuke him for not letting her know ahead of time that he was bring an "important" visitor to her home. I had to laugh. We decided to drive across town to visit some of Olgens' cousins instead. There was an adventure waiting there for us as well.

The next place we stopped provided quite a contrast. It was a nice home with a metal gate out front, bedrooms, a bathroom with toilet, tiled floors, and a nice private garden in the back. I met a few of Olgen's cousins (a very loose term here for any kind of distant relative) and we had a few laughs together. One boy there looked about 11 but his sister said he was 14. He had the TV turned up too loud and was fiddling with some string and sticks. His head wobbled around like there was something wrong with him. He would mumble something and laugh to himself. I remember thinking, “I wonder if this kid will ever doing anything worthwhile with his life.”

I started looking at the variety of paintings up on the walls, assuming they had been purchased from some local artist or shop or whatever. Some of them were quite nice, and definitely interesting in content. After a little while the boy asks me in Creole, “What are you looking at there?” I said, “I'm just looking at all these paintings. They're pretty good.” He kind of giggle to himself. Olgens points at the boy and says, “He painted all of those.” I was dumfounded. I asked to clarify, “This kid right here? He painted those?” Olgens confirmed what he said. The boy giggled a little more.

There were interesting paintings of Bible scenes, nature scenes in Haiti, and many other things. One that really stuck out was a painting of a vase with flowers with three burning candles nearby. Somehow he was able to capture both the glare of the light on these objects and the shadows behind them, and the flowers were very detailed and beautiful. It looked like a blown up photograph. I had to repent of my earlier dismissal of the boy and think, “This kid could do great things.” I wonder if he was autistic or something. More importantly, I wonder who will guide him on this strange and potentially-wonderful path on which God has placed him?

We headed home. Olgens and I had a few more laughs and returned back to our everyday lives where the adventures always continue. Just yesterday Olgens and I met up in the nearby market. It was cloudy and breezy and I asked him, “Eske lapli ap veni? (Will the rain come?)” He said, “No, not now.” Predictably, after about five minutes we got hit with a small monsoon. All we could do is laugh, help people pack up their little stands, and find shelter on someone's porch for 20 minutes. We can never say for sure how long God will allow us to serve here, but we feel like Olgens will be a part of that story for many years to come. He fits well with us, and it all began with a little prayer together a couple of years ago with the help of Kiki.

Olgens and Lynn

God Bless Your Adventure Today!
-Grimm Family Adventurers

10 Adventures in 10 Days: #4- HAITIAN SCHOOLS

Family and Friends,

This is an adventure we could probably write 10 blogs about. This fall we feel like our eyes have really been opened to a lot of the issues with the school system in Haiti. This is the first time we have been present for the distribution of the sponsor money to the schools and families. Have you ever been to one of those ponds full of big goldfish where children can buy little pellets of food and throw them in the water? Then the fish bubble up to the top, piling on top of each other and trying to get at the food...with that image in your mind you can understand a little bit about Haitian schools.

WARNING: This blog post might be a huge downer for you, but understand that school is in such early stages of development here, and God can do great things!

When someone chooses to sponsor a child in school here the money goes towards several different things. Probably the biggest three are the actual payment of tuition to the schools, the books, and the uniforms. There are also backpacks, medications, shoes, and other items that kids receive. Mission Haiti currently has about 1500 students at something like 40 different schools, so the master list is always being updated with who has received what, who has transferred to what school, who did and didn't pass last year (more on that later), and other pertinent information.

At every point in the paragraph above problems can and do arise. Take tuition as an example. If you give it to the parents to pay the school, all kinds bad things can happen. Use your imagination. If you give it to the school, all kinds of other bad things can happen. Probably the most prevalent is a complex network of kids saying they go to a school, striking a deal with the director there to pretend they actually go there, and then splitting the money with him. This really happens! Well, the good news is Pam finally reached the end of her rope this year and hired a professional school inspector to make sure the money we are giving out is actually being used properly. Of course this leads to a lot of angry people not being able to work the system anymore, but is should reap big dividends for those who play fairly.

Mission Haiti directly oversees four schools, but even that statement needs to be qualified. Each of those primary schools has a director who is actually in charge, but through the sponsorship program Pam actually pays all the salaries, virtually all of the tuition, and virtually all of the building projects, so obviously she has a big say in what goes on. And yet there is always so much conflict and resistance at every step in the process. It can be incredibly discouraging. For example, she recently gave one fo the schools all of their books for the year, and they turned around and charge the parents money for the books, so many kids don't have books. Sometimes you just want to buy those directors a plane ticket, personally take them on a tour through any decent school in Miami or wherever, and open their eyes to what could be. In their defense, they really have no idea what school CAN be like.

Then there is the parents' support or lack thereof of school in general. Someone could easily write an entire book on this topic, because it is so complex. Many parents would simply like their kids to be home working. That is the reality. When carrying water, doing laundry by hand, and preparing/cooking food takes so much time, it is nice to have many hands doing the work. There are also a few parents at the other end of the spectrum who have an idea of what school can be like, are disgusted with the lack of quality in local schools, and try to come up with other options. Patchouko and his wife fall into this category.

This next paragraph will blow your mind and cause you to pray...

There is also the issue of passing from grade to grade. Some of most difficult times are after 6^th, 9^th, 12^th, & 13^th grades (they do one more year here, like in Europe). The kids in our little community have to take the same exams as the kids in Port who go to big expensive private schools. So the tests are very hard, at least for our kids. Many of them don't pass and have to try again the next year. They can be stuck in the same grade for many years. But that is not all. Then there a times when a student doesn't pass, but can bribe the director with money or other favors (yes, I'm implying what you think) and pass anyway. I hear about this happening in the high schools. We hope it doesn't happen in the primary schools we operate. Then there is one last scenario you probably figured out already which is very hard to prove. Some students are very smart, but receive a failing grade on the exam. When they ask the director about it, he may in an off-handed way ask for a bribe. If the student doesn't comply they don't pass. Some students believe they really did achieve a passing score but were not allowed to move on because of not giving the bribe. May God have mercy on the soul of any directors who have done these things!

Then there is the government's involvement with the schools. The new president has promised to help schools in Haiti be great. Two pieces of evidence seem to indicate nothing has changed. At the end of last year national (public) school teachers stopped coming to school because they weren't getting paid anymore. Now this fall the president moved school back an entire month to begin on October 4^th. This happened last year, too, under the old, corrupt regime. Cutting school is an obvious way to save money at the expense of the children of Haiti. And the tradition in Haiti is to not really start attending regularly until the 2^nd or 3^rd week. So I went in to teach English yesterday at the local high school, and way less than half of the kids were there.

This blog post does not even delve into the lack of resources, books, quality teachers, creative programs, and other obstacles faced by the schools, but you get the idea. Haitian schools are in a sad state. Of course when you meet a young man or woman who somehow find a way to push through it all, master French and other languages, and blaze some trail to a real career of some sort, it is very inspiring. I think Pam and the rest of us at Mission Haiti feel like we have a very long way to go until we can say the schools are “good” here, but there is at least a sense that things are improving year to year.

Please remember the Haitian schools in your prayers today, and the adventure of those of us who are directly involved.

Thank the Lord today for the School you attend(ed)!

-The Grimm Family Adventurers