Time Flies!

It seems that time is just flying by, here in Grand Goave! I can hardly believe that I've been here for almost a month already! Classes really keep me busy, and we have church on Sunday mornings and then on Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday nights every week. We have a team visiting here from Washington state, right now. They're here to do some painting on the residence building at the property that Haiti ARISE owns. We have a bunch of teams coming to work on various aspects of the residence building during November and December. We're hoping that the building will be ready for us volunteers to live in by January.

It's been really nice having so many white people around... we sure are the 'odd-balls' around here! I can't imagine what it'll be like to go home and just blend in.

One thing you can pray for is my laptop. It seems that it has become infested with ants and will no longer turn on. One of the guys on the team is going to try to look at it this week, so I'd appreciate your prayers that it will start working soon. It's because my computer isn't working that I haven't been able to post any pictures lately....

Adjusting....

Things are getting into a routine here in Grand Goave. I have classes on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings, as well as Wednesday and Friday afternoons. Teaching English to so many students is sure keeping me busy! There's a lot of time spent in planning lessons and correcting papers... outside of class time. I'm enjoying the relationships that I've been able to establish with me students. They're all very friendly and respectful of me... and they're soooo eager to learn English! Yesterday morning, I was walking down the road on my way to school at around seven thirty, when I passed one of my students who was walking down the road studying his English book... at 7:30am!!! The dedication of the students here never ceases to amaze me! They stop me in church to ask me in what context they should use a word they learned from the dictionary. Many of them ready dictionaries on a regular basis and ask me for help on proper pronounciation and proper usage of the word.

It's also been really nice to have the opportunity to teach my students Bible verses in English! Every class, they learn a new verse. Not all my students are Christians, but many of them are Bible teachers, English teachers, students of various trades, pastors, future pastors, and one is even a candidate for the next election to become mayor of Grand Goave. I find it very humbling to teach such educated and inspirational people! Please pray that God will give me what I need to teach them English well!

Life in Haiti

Today was another day spent at the beach. Monday is our official day off, so we usually pack everything up and head to the beach. We enjoyed a game of soccer and a good game of frisbee on the beach. Once again, the weather was perfect and the water was warm!

Things are really going well with my classes. I still feel a bit overwhelmed at the amount of students I have and I feel a lot of pressure, being the only English teacher in the school. Many of my students will approach me with English questions in church or even when I'm just walking down the road. They are so eager to learn! Sometimes they'll even stop by the mission house to ask questions and practice speaking in English. I feel as though my English teaching is not at all limited to class time! I'll be walking down the road and hear people calling out 'teacher, my teacher'! lol I'm not used to being so elevated in society!

It really amazes me how godly the Christians are, in our church here. Whenever something good happens, they always say, 'Praise God'! If I ask someone how his day went, he'll say 'It was good, thanks to God'. It amazes me how they are constantly focusing on Him and His goodness in their lives... these people who have so much less than me. I realize that I came to Haiti to teach English and to share Christ's love with the Haitians, but I feel like they're giving me so much more in return! I think that in North America, we've become so used to all our comforts, that when something good happens we often forget to thank the one who made it happen!

Thank you for all your prayers and for taking the time to read my blog updates. Please know that I am praying for you, that God will strengthen you and lead you acording to His will.

Washing Dishes

As with everything else in Haiti, washing dishes is entirely different than washing them at home. Here, there's not hot water and since we don't want to waste water by filling up the sink, we usually just wet the dishes, turn off the water and apply the soap, and then turn the water back on. We use the same process when showering. It's different, but I'm getting used to it now....