Thanksgiving

We always celebrate our Thanksgiving on the Friday after the traditional Thursday Thanksgiving. We have a tradition of going to our friends the Vervloet's home after the clinic and school on Thursday evening just to have a chance to spend some quality time talking and in general solving all the world's problems during that evening. Then on Friday we, along with about 20 missionary and embassy friends, do the turkey thing. We stuff ourselves sort of like our parents used to stuff the turkey then we stop and wait till we have enough room to ingest the great deserts. Following that it's back to more general talking and even a great football game, that is if you're not an LSU fan. But of course that went to three overtimes, which delayed our traditional time of sharing.

For about ten years now as our celebration winds down in the evening we always gather in a circle and each share those things for which each of us individually give thanks. Surprisingly, we have never had one person who wouldn't be part of this tradition. Although the Kleenex box is usually depleted by the time we finish it has always been a time of renewal and often even healing. I thank God for giving us this time. Although many would say that what we do is give thanks to people instead of God, I would say that if you actually do this in honesty and openness just the opposite happens. We end up giving thanks to God for all these things and people that he has brought into our lives. No, this is not a time to worship people and appreciate God; it is a time to appreciate and verbalize our dependence, appreciation, and love to people in the context of worshiping God. I believe that maybe we should be doing more of this kind of thing instead of sitting (or standing) in lines together, singing words that others write, and reading about and listening to someone talk about things that we believe we are doing in the way God would have us do anyway. I tend to believe what I have described is what is today referred to as worship. I believe that definition needs to be broadened to include more the speaking of good words and doing of good things to and for those we are called to love: our families, friends, the Church, the world, and God.

Now that my tirade is ended here is what I give God thanks for, especially today:

1. The job he has called me to do and the country he has called me to serve, Haiti. Not a lot of people get to do exactly what they want to do in life. I do. In that context I especially give thanks for the the little 6 month old babies who when I speak to them smile back at me knowing that they are loved.

2. I thank God for my wife Jodie who puts up with all my weirdness and loves me in spite of it.

3. My daughter Jacquie who is far too much like her father. One of these days that may haunt her with lost jobs, fewer friends, less money, and at times a tough life. But what she does give that makes her so special is truth and honesty. We never have to question where we stand with her. She tells us she loves us in no uncertain terms whenever we communicate and is never afraid to disagree with us when she knows she is right (and sometimes when she doesn't).

4. I thank God for Kevin Bonewitz who I really don't know well but upon Jacquie's recommendation (she married him) he must be a great guy and someone who is will be a large part of our family.

5. My daughter Jessica who is just one of the neatest kids around. She is now in process of a major life change in that she is starting to take her education seriously and finally all those things that she knew she couldn't do, she now can. She is unswerving in her beliefs and life style. Last year she started practicing a vegetarian diet and since then is yet to eat something that could smile back at her. She has been practicing the discipline of fasting one or more days a week. Although I bug her about not losing too much weight she just tells me to go away and goes about living her life certainly much better than I ever lived mine.

6. Our fellowship at CSI. For a little over a year we have been worshiping with a group of missionaries and an occasional government worker. It isn't all that I've ever dreamed of in the worship sense but it really fills a void in my life with something good.

7. My friends. As you can probably tell if you don't know me personally I'm not all that easy to live with. As a friend introduced me last week, “this is John. You don't have to worry when you talk with him. He'll tell you where you stand.” I trust it's not quite that bad but I do realize that occasionally my overemphasis on honesty does make it hard for those acquaintances to take me on as one of those people they would most like to hang around. So those of you who are left, I do love you and thank you for being a big part of my life.

8. I thank God for Steve Hersey, truly the finest high school teacher I have ever met and who could have taught in most any university in the States. Two years ago he stepped down from his teaching position at at Quisqueya Christian School and took over as the director. This was necessary because of some prior “stuff” in the leadership of the school that I won't go into. But Steve is doing such a great job and is helping to mold possibly the finest PK-12 school in this country.

9. I thank God for all our supporters that sacrifice to keep us here and let us do the things that we believe God is calling us to do. (Refer to #1) We have a number of churches and individuals who make it possible for us to live here and do what God calls us to do. We thank God for sending those supporters our way.

10. Lastly, You. Thanks for reading the blog. I hope it hasn't wasted your time and hope you don't leave here an enemy because you disagree with what you read. Remember, most all my friends disagree with me. They just love me in spite of it.

Part of the group at dinner

And So It Goes!

John

A Strange Sight

When visitors come to Haiti one of the things that many of them are surprised to see are the number of people who are carrying and using cell phones. Actually we have three very active cell phone companies in Haiti. Two of them, Voila and Haitel are under Haitian management but Digicel is a fairly large international company who has just recently (two years ago) come to Haiti. When they came in they came in with a bang. The first month they offered free phones to anyone who had Voila or Haitel phones who would exchange them for a better phone and charges that were cheaper. Needless to say the Haitian companies weren’t all that happy to have the new visitors in town and often let it be known that it was just unfair that their government would allow foreigners to come in and give competition to the home team. But there seems to be enough room for all three companies to function here without a lot of loss in income. It’s still fascinating to watch each of them come up with new gimmicks in order to get the people in their front doors.

This is a picture of the front wall of a Digicel office located in the Delmas Area. If you can’t make it out, it is a line of people waiting with their cell phones and chargers to get a chance to charge their phones from the extension cords that come from the Digicel office. That seems like a great idea to me. They must have realized that most Haitians only get two hours of electricity a day. I would say Digicel has done their homework.

And So It Goes!

John

So You Think You’ve had a bad day?

Check this one out. Our neighbors woke up this morning to this sight of their front wall having fallen into the road. The pressure against these walls from the waters of the many days of rain is tremendous. Now about two months of a lot of manual labor and about $5000 and they will probably have a new and even higher wall. And this is one of the families with money. Can you imagine the effect of all this rain on those who are poor?

And so it Goes!

John

No School

It continues to rain and there’s no school. But we still had to go down the mountain to Quisqueya Christian School (where Jodie teaches and Jessica attends) for a memorial service. On this past Saturday morning a lovely 25 year old teacher and staff member from the school was found dead in her bed. Katie was one of the really loved and appreciated persons on that campus and this has been a real downer for the QCS community. In addition to being the teacher recruiter, basketball and soccer coach, athletic director, and student council director she was an all around loved person who lived out her Christian life in ways that impacted most of the students she came in contact with.

I guess my rag with the whole thing besides the obvious is the fact that we have to have a reason for it all. I heard more than once that “God had taken her home to be with him” or “today she is up in heaven having a better time than she ever did here on earth.” Why can’t we just grieve? This beautiful young lady died far too early in life of probable natural causes and she never had a chance to marry, have kids, grandchildren, nor had she a chance to do lots of other things that many of us think are a desired part of life. I think that really sucks (I didn’t say that!) and I get tired of seeing people avoid that reality when simply stating it would help us to get through the difficult times. Now don’t get me wrong. I have no knowledge about the afterlife. I simply have beliefs just like everybody else. Katie may be having a great sun soaked day in heaven and I personally hope she is. But she isn’t here and she should be. It’s time to grieve. We miss her and want Katie back.

And so it goes!

John

Katie Broecker

A couple days of Rain

It was so strange that yesterday during the clinic it began to rain. Hard! I used to tell friends that if they would come visit us I would guarantee that the weather would be beautiful. Don’t get me wrong: we have our allotment of rain in this Caribbean haven but the rain almost always happens at night. Actually, this rain did start at night, two nights ago, rained all day yesterday, poured all night last night, continued today and is still raining as I write. This morning they cancelled school because of rain. Have you ever heard of that one? In my time here I never remember it raining so much for so long a time. So what has changed? We’re not going there.

Actually the culprit is a tropical depression named Noel. Like the others, he formed off the coast of Africa about a week ago and drifted our way but unlike most he didn’t keep drifting to the west. He just got big and started to move north and quietly is in process of devastating lots of lives here in Haiti. To be honest I haven’t heard that on any news reports but because of the length of time the rain has continued and with the “heaviness” of the rain, I just take it for granted that we will begin to get reports within the next couple of days that someplace in Haiti some community or communities will be an afterthought. Their people will be ravaged with water and mud and their families will be mourning losses again. It always seems to happen. So, prove me wrong this time. Show me that no communities will be wiped off the side of a hill killing every last one. Feel free to write a comment telling me how dumb I am. I hope you’re right.

We are already seeing some of the effects of this rain in Port-au-Prince. The usual dark blue color of the water in the Bay of LaGonave is now brown. Check the picture out. I took it a couple hours ago.

I ask you to join with me in prayer for those who are (probably) at the present time fighting to keep their families out of the water and alive.

And So It Seems to Always Go!

John