From Mr. Brown :)

Gerritt and Julie tell me a lot of people ask about me, so I'm writing this blog - written by them of course as I can't type!!  My job at the guesthouse is to keep my people safe and I treat this responsibility VERY seriously.  During the day, I can usually be found sleeping in my bunker (kinda like a dog crate in the states, but made of concrete) or on my leash out front but at night I get to roam the property.  Sometimes the neighborhood cats tease me by hanging out on the walls around the property, but I usually scare them away by barking really loud.  Ever since G&J came, I've had some fun adventures - Gerritt takes me on walks around the neighborhood which I REALLY like - lots of smells to sniff and I make sure to drink extra water so I can pee on everything ... then just last week, they let me jump into the back of their truck which I've been wanting to do ever since it arrived here in Haiti!  Though I'm not very agile, so Gerritt had to give me a boost up :)  All in all, it is a good life I have here - thank you for everyone that asks about me (and thanks to G&J who give me 3 chicken hot dogs for breakfast every day!!!!)

Learning new things - (really Lisa)

So I learned something new today about Haitian culture. In the native kreyol language, there does not appear to be a word for “owning” something. You can only say you “have” or “possess” something.

I have heard many times that Haitians don’t take very good care of their belongings and I’ve always wondered why that is. I have certainly seen the girls at the orphanage treat things in a way that seemed unnecessarily rough and destructive to me. I have also seen the girls absolutely compelled to touch, pick up, or play with things that they know do not belong to them. I just wondered inside if they have had so little in their material experience that was of good quality and worthy of trying to preserve, but that does not seem to be the answer as they are equally hard on nice things that should be worthy of preserving. They sure know how to conserve and be resourceful in other areas.

I think I learned today that embedded in Haitian culture is a lack of the concept we know of as “ownership” It simply does not occur to our girls that the cell phone or sunglasses they are about to grab belongs to someone other than them. No one “has or possesses” it so it is fair game. It also partially explains the propensity for shipped items to disappear as they clear customs here. It also brings new meaning to the phrase used in the US – “possession is 9/10ths of the law”.

This then brings me to a new challenge. How do I show/instruct the girls a completely new concept?? How does one communicate the idea of “ownership” to a small group of 9 to 15 year olds who native language does not even contain the word ownership. This is what I was rambling about when I wrote about showing them a “better” way, not just an “American” way. Ideas about teaching the concept of ownership with limited language skills??

April fish

I thought I'd write something quick and funny. Yesterday was April 1 which we know as April fools day. They have something similar here in Haiti and the girls call it "poisson Avril" ( pwa-sahn ah-vreel - literally April fish - don't ask me why they just do) The object is to tell an unsuspecting person that someone else is calling for them and they need to go see that person. When you go to see what the person wants and they are confused and reply that they did not call you, the 11 year old girl yells "POISSON AVRIL" and bursts into hysterical laughter as if she has just pulled off the best practical joke in the world. I thought you all should know this. Thanks for reading. -G

Recently a few dear friends and family have asked how we're doing ... it's been a while since we shared a blog update so here goes (along with a few prayer requests)!  The girls are making progress in their respect issues - it has been an encouragement to have a team from Haiti Under God here for the last 2 weeks to help come alongside us.  With our girls home Director, we introduced "Rules of Good Behavior" - while this hasn't been a "magic wand", it is helping us point the girls to what is expected of them.  The guesthouse has been consistently full which is both a blessing to Haiti and the Haiti Under God organization.  We are feeling much more comfortable with how to keep a house in Haiti running (and adding to our database of people to call when things break/wear out etc.).  The big thing we're struggling with is how to balance the needs of house and guests, the girls, staff @ both and our need for Sabbath rest.  Just yesterday the pastor and friend of Quisqueya church strongly encouraged us to make this happen as he "has seen people time and again burn out here and leave".  We have a newer respect for those serving in ministry here and welcome prayers as we brainstorm how to make this happen.  Every day is a new adventure and we are so glad to be here following God's call!  Gotta run as breakfast with the guests starts in 10 minutes ... love to all of you :)

Eight weeks ago~

All day I have remembered different parts of eight weeks ago today when we boarded the plane headed to Haiti!  Our "worldly possessions" were packed in 6 - 50 lb bags, 2 carryons and 2 shoulder bags.  We did not know what to expect, but knew how God had blessed this next step in our lives by clearly making the path clear ... there are many pieces to our story that we will share over time, but what I keep thinking about is:

a. How God provided a buyer for our condo 10 days after it went online in a "down" market.
b. How God provided extra time off with pay/benefits by whispering in Gerritt's ear for us to give notice at our jobs when we did - I told my workplace on a Monday and my group was walked out the door that Friday.
c. How 10 years ago God planted a love for Haiti in both our hearts and now look where he brought us!

There are so many handprints in our lives that show this is where we were meant to be.  There are (and will be) moments/hours/days I crave the familiarity of our lives before everything was switched around / turned upside down, however there is an undescribable comfort knowing I/we are where HE wants us.  I'm so thankful to all of you for being a part of our lives and along for this adventure ~ stay tuned :)

Update on the girls

So Julie hinted at it last time, but we are starting to realize the girls we have been seeing up until now have been a sort of cleaned up version of the real truth. Not that they are somehow awful kids - nothing like that. It's just that Julie and I are now not falling into the pattern of Americans who show up... bring fun things to do and hang out for awhile... then leave. Some return regularly, and some do not, but they all eventually leave. As the children realize Julie and I are not just here to play, but instead to bring about some changes in the way things operate, we are experiencing the first push back in terms of testing, disobedience, and flat out disrespect on occasion. We are quickly learning what kinds of "sticks and carrots" are at all effective. It is quite amusing to learn that a truly effective punishment for refusal to pay attention or sit still without interrupting is to have to sit next to me or Julie and hold our hand. 

A big task ahead of us is developing and implementing a set of "house rules" that clearly communicate expectations and repercussions for not following them. We are working with the house mother and pastor to develop our rules, but we can really use supernatural wisdom in figuring out what to tackle and what to let slide. To attempt to overhaul too much right from the start will only embitter the girls, and frustrate us. To not go far enough means allowing certain undesirable behaviors to continue longer than they should. We also need to navigate the rough waters of physical punishment for disobedience which is a very normal response in this culture.

 Tomorrow is the first day of lent and it is a season of introspection. Our prayer is over the next 6 weeks 17 girls will do some thinking about themselves, their attitudes, and their goals and how to achieve them. We will be doing the same of course. Feel free to join us!

  .

Playground and more

This morning we took the girls on an adventure and walked over to Quisqueya Chapel to use their playground and fields area.  It was so fun to see them laugh, run, swing and even climb the trees!!  We brought along a soccer ball, frisbee, bubbles and even a special treat of juice & siret (creole word for candy!).  Four of the girls go to school on Saturday mornings and one stayed at home with the staff ~ more on that in a moment ~ but as a previously kid-free couple I was pretty excited that we got 12 girls to/from on the streets of Port au Prince :)

 

Then this afternoon tested both of us ... rounding up all 17 girls for their weekly visit with the social worker is something we have experienced a few times already.  Just when you think you have most of them seated and go to find the others, the original ones have hopped up for some reason and the process begins again.  However today was extra challenging by keeping them seated, focused, not touching or poking each other, not talking, seated again etc. etc.  We both got pretty frustrated by the lack of respect the girls showed us, the staff and each other (the aforementioned girl that stayed home this morning was discipline related).  It is days like these that are teaching me parenting is hard - really hard - especially in a totally new  language/culture.  Plus the fact that most if not all of the girls have not had consistent loving discipline in their lives so they basically don't know any better ~ kind of like our lives before God.  Even with the frustrations of this afternoon, we feel so blessed to be here to love and help raise them to be Godly women in the tough world of Haiti.  We do not know what each of their futures hold, but want to point them to honor the one that does!