Happenings

I will start of this post by saying that I am sorry I am so late in updating! The last several months have been so busy with projects at the farm and life on the compound, but we are thankful for all God is doing and for all of those to came and will come to show support and help.

Since there has been so much happening in the past three months, I will stick to mostly pictures. If you want more details about everything, you can leave your email in the comments and  we would be happy to send you my mom's email updates. :)

We are so thankful to see the progress being done on our house! It makes moving there in a month or two seem much more real! The smooth coat, or krepe, on all the walls has been done, electrical wiring was put in, the floors have been poured, the metal doors have been installed, the metal bars on the windows have been put in, and they are now putting the metal "fè fòje" around our porch.

My dad and Graham, our intern from the middle of November to the middle of December, did a great job on the floors inside our house. Now it is ready to have cabinets installed and walls painted!

This is the fè fòje that will go around the porch. Charleton thought of this design and spent many hours shaping, measuring, cutting, and welding the metal to make four or five sections like this, as well as all the windows!

In the past couple of months, there have been many masons working to put up this feed shed. This is where we will store, process, and sell grains.

My dad built one of these corn cribs to see if it works as a reliable way to store corn. The first trial worked great, so Graham built two more. Now we have a great way to store and dry corn on the cob until we want to sell it! 

We were happy to have a team of four men to help out at the farm for a few days. While they were here, we shelled the corn from the first crib with a sheller that we got on our last container!

I have enjoyed having Brinley around to keep me busy! Every chance I get, I like to take her to the farm, since we will be living there soon, and she loves every minute of it! She likes to explore, and enjoys meeting, and, in some cases, chasing the other animals. We'll have to see what we can do about her obsession with chasing the chickens, hopefully before she catches one... We have been trying to keep her busy by controlling the mouse population in our main depo, and she does a great job for being just  a puppy! The first day we took her on a mouse hunt, she killed at least half a dozen, and a few days later, when I took her out again, she went straight to the depo and started looking for more! The hunting instinct is definitely bred into her!

I am excited to have this view every morning once we live out here! I just love seeing the young heifers out in the pasture. 

This is Maxi's cow, who just had her first calf! We are hoping that she gives a lot of milk, as Maxi feeds her good grain and milks her every day. 

Pictured here along with Maxi's cow is our heifer, who is due to calve sometime this month. We look forward to growing the herd!

There is so much to be thankful for, and we can see that God is doing amazing things in the community that we are working alongside, and we are privileged to be used for God's glory! Please be prayerful in this busy time that we can be witnesses for Christ and show his love to all we interact with. Prayers would also be appreciated for the several teams planning to come in the next couple of months! We are so grateful for their support and willing hands as well as the many prayer warriors and supporters back in the states!

In Christ,
Lana

It has been a crazy couple of weeks full of hurricanes, changes of plans, and prayers! Hurricane Irma did go north of Haiti, and the only effect we got from her was some rain. We are thankful, but praying for those in other places who did not fare as well as we did. Hurricane season is still in full swing, so we still ask for your prayers on behalf of those of us in Haiti, as well as, more importantly, those in places that have been hit hard.

The Yordys, who were planning to come in the Thursday just before Irma, decided not to come that day, but instead came several days later, after Irma was well past us. We are thankful to have them back again! 

On the farm, work has been progressing on our house, as the ceiling of our house was just finished being poured Saturday after four days of hard work. Even though our house won't be completed for several months, we are already looking forward to the next projects on the farm. We have gotten building permits to start the feed barn, milking station and vet station! Dad and the men didn't waste any time in measuring and staking out where those buildings will be.

I look forward to being able to watch the sunset from here!

The most exciting point last week for me was receiving our new puppy, Brinley, who made her appearance just under two weeks later that we were originally planning. Already she has been so much fun to have around and I am looking forward to training her and seeing her grow to be a great help on the farm, especially in decreasing the rodent population, since she was bred to hunt! We are so grateful to the family that kept her in Florida those two weeks, and took such good care of her! 

Hopefully she'll eventually grow into her ears, but right now they make her pretty adorable!

One of Brinley's favorite things to do is play with the Yordy's dog, Izzy, even though she's about ten times Brinley's size!

Brinley has the funniest way of lying on the concrete, and her head tilt makes it even funnier when I make a noise new to her!

Settling in and Watching for Hurricanes

This week has been a good time of getting back into a "normal" routine of living in Haiti. I started school last Monday, which has kept me busy a good portion of each day. We were glad to see the two ladies that work for us at our house, and their smiles were just as cheerful as when we left them back in June. Dad has also been busy out at the farm. As it is planting season here, he has been asked by many many farmers to plow their fields with the new tractor and tiller that we got early this past summer. He says farmers come to him with money in hand ready to pay for a service which they see having a big effect on the crops' yield. The ground is so hard due to years of livestock grazing on it and the fact that when the farmers do till their ground, they usually don't cut in more than a few inches below the surface. The local farmers are seeing, in the example of our corn crops, just how beneficial a good root system is in providing necessary nutrients and water to the corn. It is so neat to be able to see their enthusiasm in wanting to learn and work harder!

This past weekend we were blessed to be able to spend time with some good friends from Bonne Fin! A couple and their two daughters, as well as two other young ladies came down early afternoon on Saturday and stayed until Sunday. We had a great time talking and getting to know each other better and playing games Saturday evening. On Sunday, we had the opportunity to go to Renault, which is where a family from Canada has a children's Sunday school mission. It is in one of the poorest parts of southern Haiti, and hundreds of children walk from miles around to come hear God's word and praise Him! After the time of worship, each child is given a "manna pack" that can feed six people.

It doesn't get much better than worshiping our God with hundreds of kids!

After a beautiful morning, we went to Port Salut where we enjoyed the beach and some amazing food! The weather was perfect for the beach and we happily rested in hammocks, caught a crab, and swam. 

Here we ate some delicious lobster, fish, and chicken. 

I'm so blessed to be able to call these girls my friends :)

I think I'll call him Charlie 

After a wonderful weekend of rest and relaxation, we now think of hurricane Irma, which is slowly nearing our location. At this point the eye is forecast to pass just north of Haiti, but because of its intensity and size, we could still have some damage done. We are hoping we don't have to deal with another "Matthew"! There are some people that are still planning to come in to Haiti in the next couple of days so we are praying that they can make it safely! We were also saddened by the news that our puppy Brinley, the next farm hand, will not be arriving tomorrow as we had hoped. She was scheduled to come in on Agape Flights, which is our mail service, but they had to cancel the flight for this week due to hurricane Irma. Brinley will be staying in Florida with some friends who have graciously agreed to keep her until Agape can make their next flight. Now we are just waiting and watching to see where Irma heads, and we are praying for those in Florida who seem to be in her path. 

How grateful we are that we serve the God who is in charge of the storm! Please pray with us during this time of uncertainty that all will work out for God's glory and for safety for those both in the Caribbean and in Florida! 

Lana :)

On the Field and in the Fields

We made it back to our home in Haiti, safe and sound - and sweaty - and we are so thankful to God for uneventful travels! Everything went smoothly and we arrived in Les Cayes around mid afternoon yesterday. Praise God! It was nice to get in before the evening, even though it was still hot and very humid. We were glad to have the time to settle in some and even have supper with some good friends and catch up after the summer months of being apart!

Yesterday, after church, we drove out to the farm, which is about a half hour from where we live now, and we were able to see the corn crops and the construction progress on our house there. A few of the children that live nearby were there, and it was so good to see their sweet (and in some cases, ornery) faces again!! I left Haiti for the summer before my mom and dad, so, while they were still here, a lot of construction went on, and I had a fun time seeing everything that had changed :)

I was amazed to see how tall the corn is, and most of the stalks have two or more ears on them!

I left Haiti on June 2nd. Since then they have added on to this depot, painted it, and gotten the generator working and the wiring done!

This is the view from my bedroom window, which I will look forward to waking up to once we move to the farm!

The walls of our house have more than doubled in height since I last saw them, and they are nearing completion. They are now putting up wood stands and forms to pour the roof.

Between Les Cayes and the farm are acres and acres of rice paddies. This is one of my favorite scenes in Haiti. The rice paddies, mountains, beautiful cloud paintings, and blue skies always makes me smile. :)

We are so thankful to be back in Haiti and thankful for your prayers as we make the transition back into life here! 

~Lana :)

One Week 'Til Takeoff

It's that time of year again. I am always amazed at how fast our summer in the states flies by! When we get back to the states, many people ask me if I'm glad to be back, and I can honestly say that I am. Then, at the end of the summer others ask if I'm ready to go back down to Haiti, and again I can honestly say that I am. It is such a blessing to be able to say this! Knowing that we are doing God's will in serving the people of Haiti gives me such a peace no matter where I am.

Our summer was filled to the maximum with many fun activities, that mostly involved family and friends, and I am grateful for every minute of it. The summer is busy, yes, but it's a good kind of busy. :)

Now, one week away from heading back to our little place in the Caribbean, I know that it will go by in a heartbeat. I can only ask for your prayers as we prepare, both physically and mentally, this week!

Blessings,
Lana